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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. staff — a stick
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. season — of the year
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. degree — temperature
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pit — a hole
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. last — finally
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. pit — in a race
  17. staff — employees
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. last — to go on
  20. season — in sport
  21. saw — the tool
  22. last — final
  23. perch — the fish
  24. staff — employees

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