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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. degree — an amount
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. row — to paddle
  6. squash — the sport
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. land — to come down
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. degree — from a university
  11. file — a document
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a signal
  15. file — a tool
  16. wax — to grow
  17. squash — to crush
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. file — a line of people
  20. cue — a hint
  21. land — ground
  22. row — a line
  23. land — a country
  24. degree — temperature

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