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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. board — to get on
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mug — a cup
  6. squash — to crush
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. squash — the sport
  10. board — a committee
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a lid
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. mug — to rob
  17. cap — a hat
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mug — a face
  20. chest — a box
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. degree — from a university

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