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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: field · patient · rule · degree · suit · clip

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. suit — in cards
  3. field — farmland
  4. rule — a law
  5. clip — to cut
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — for paper
  8. suit — to fit
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — for sport
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — an amount
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. rule — government
  17. degree — temperature
  18. suit — clothes

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