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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — thin
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mate — a friend
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — an illness
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cold — not warm
  17. degree — an amount
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. mate — to breed
  21. pound — a weight
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. degree — from a university
  24. mate — a partner

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