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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 116 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. degree — from a university
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. game — a match
  9. branch — a division
  10. rule — government
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — a law
  15. row — a line
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. row — to paddle
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. degree — temperature
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. sharp — clever
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. degree — an amount

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