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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. last — final
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. last — to go on
  5. game — a match
  6. degree — from a university
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. last — finally
  9. game — wild animals
  10. degree — temperature
  11. tube — a container
  12. degree — an amount
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. net — after costs
  18. dip — to sink
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. net — for catching

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