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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bear — the animal
  5. degree — temperature
  6. ground — a position
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — clever
  9. vault — a safe
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bass — the fish
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. ground — crushed
  18. clip — a video
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bass — low music
  22. bear — the animal
  23. ground — the earth
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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