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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. degree — an amount
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. drill — army training
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. can — a tin
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — the tool
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. degree — temperature
  20. can — a tin
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. wave — of the sea

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