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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 124 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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. cold — not warm
  3. band — a music group
  4. tube — a container
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cold — an illness
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. net — after costs
  15. rash — a series
  16. bank — of a river
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bank — for money
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a ring
  21. net — in sport
  22. bank — for money
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. rash — hasty

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