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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. degree — temperature
  3. chip — to eat
  4. bound — obliged
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chip — for betting
  10. march — music
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cold — an illness
  15. prune — to trim
  16. degree — an amount
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. safe — out of danger

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