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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. kid — to tease
  4. club — for golf
  5. track — a song
  6. degree — from a university
  7. net — for catching
  8. club — a group
  9. track — to keep track
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. net — in sport
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. stem — to come from
  14. club — for dancing
  15. net — after costs
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. kid — child
  19. track — a path
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rush — hurry

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