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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. degree — temperature
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cell — in biology
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stand — to bear
  12. cell — a phone
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. degree — an amount
  19. capital — money
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wax — to grow
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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