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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. degree — an amount
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. file — a tool
  11. mine — for digging
  12. degree — from a university
  13. kid — to tease
  14. ball — a great time
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. kid — child
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. file — a document
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. file — a line of people

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