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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. ground — a position
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a document
  5. swing — in golf
  6. ground — crushed
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. file — a tool
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. hand — help
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wound — an injury
  14. hand — in cards
  15. ground — the earth
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cue — a signal
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — music
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cue — for pool

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