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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. row — to paddle
  3. date — the fruit
  4. row — a line
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. chest — of your body
  8. degree — an amount
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. dip — to sink
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. current — electric
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. chest — a box
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. current — happening now
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. current — of water
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. chest — of your body
  24. date — on the calendar

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