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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. squash — the sport
  3. mate — a partner
  4. degree — an amount
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. land — a country
  9. pound — a weight
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. game — wild animals
  12. land — ground
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. degree — from a university
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. mate — a friend
  19. game — a match
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. mate — to breed
  22. squash — to crush
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stand — to bear

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