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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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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: chair · rest · mouse · degree · patient · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. rest — a break
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chair — a leader
  5. degree — from a university
  6. last — to go on
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. last — finally
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. rest — what's left
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. rest — what's left

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