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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 120 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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. field — farmland
  3. degree — temperature
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lean — thin
  7. press — newspapers
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. drill — army training
  10. field — for sport
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. degree — from a university
  14. press — to push
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. field — a subject
  18. lean — to bend
  19. press — a publisher
  20. drill — the tool
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. drill — a practice
  23. game — a match
  24. game — wild animals

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