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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. swing — in golf
  7. degree — temperature
  8. swing — to play on
  9. last — final
  10. chair — a leader
  11. hand — help
  12. last — finally
  13. content — happy
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. swing — music
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. club — for dancing
  20. hand — in cards
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — a group
  24. chair — to sit on

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