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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. file — a document
  5. degree — temperature
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — an amount
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — hasty
  15. file — a tool
  16. degree — from a university
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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