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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 116 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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. saw — the tool
  4. land — ground
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. saw — the tool
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — a country
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. pitch — completely
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. cold — not warm

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