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

Word bank: degree · cell · temple · patient · squash · snap

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. degree — from a university
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. snap — to click
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cell — a phone
  12. squash — to crush
  13. cell — in biology
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature

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