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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. land — ground
  4. wound — an injury
  5. land — a country
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. degree — from a university
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. land — to come down
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bass — the fish
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bass — low music
  22. degree — temperature
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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