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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. drill — a practice
  3. field — farmland
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. degree — temperature
  6. drill — army training
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rush — hurry
  10. tear — from crying
  11. field — a subject
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. spell — letters
  19. tear — to rip
  20. field — for sport
  21. spell — magic
  22. tear — from crying
  23. drill — the tool
  24. patient — a sick person

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