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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. capital — a city
  5. club — for dancing
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. degree — from a university
  8. capital — money
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bass — low music
  11. club — a group
  12. bass — the fish
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. sharp — clever
  19. field — a subject
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. branch — a division

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