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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ground — a position
  3. scale — size or range
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. ground — crushed
  6. file — a tool
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. file — a line of people
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ground — the earth
  14. scale — in music
  15. ball — a great time
  16. degree — temperature
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — the underground
  19. kid — child
  20. file — a document
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. scale — for weighing

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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