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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. cold — an illness
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — not warm
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. bass — low music
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. degree — temperature
  13. spell — letters
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. spell — magic
  16. rock — a stone
  17. spell — a short time
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. rock — music
  23. mark — a trace
  24. rock — to move gently

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