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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. land — to come down
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rash — a series
  7. key — for a lock
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. degree — from a university
  10. key — the most important part
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. cell — in biology
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. land — a country
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. wax — to grow
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. kick — in football
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cell — a phone
  23. key — in music
  24. land — ground

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