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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bark — to shout
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. file — a line of people
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. shower — rain
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — completely
  16. file — a tool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. file — a document
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. shower — to wash
  24. pitch — a sports field

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