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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. content — happy
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. content — the amount
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. degree — an amount
  10. present — the time now
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rush — hurry
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fine — high quality
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. fine — all right
  19. cell — a phone
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. present — there
  24. present — a gift

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