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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bore — to tire
  3. ball — a great time
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. cold — not warm
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. vault — a safe
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bore — to drill
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. ball — a dance
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. degree — temperature
  24. ball — a round shape

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