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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. game — a match
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lean — thin
  5. field — farmland
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. game — wild animals
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. degree — temperature
  18. field — for sport
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — a subject
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. lean — to bend
  24. kid — child

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