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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. last — final
  3. game — a match
  4. pop — soda
  5. game — wild animals
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bulb — for light
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pop — to visit
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. last — to go on
  15. bulb — for light
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. last — finally
  19. pop — music
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. degree — an amount
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bulb — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com