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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. file — a tool
  11. stem — to come from
  12. hand — help
  13. degree — from a university
  14. present — the time now
  15. file — a document
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. hand — in cards
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. present — there
  23. present — a gift
  24. wake — a trail

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