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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · land · hide · race · degree · patient

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. degree — from a university
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — humankind
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. race — the arms race
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — temperature
  18. land — to come down

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