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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. wake — a trail
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. degree — temperature
  11. mark — a trace
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. snap — to click
  17. court — of law
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. court — for sport
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. mark — a grade
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. court — of a king

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