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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: march · degree · cabinet · chair · patient · root

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — from a university
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. degree — an amount
  6. root — the cause
  7. march — music
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. march — the month
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. chair — a leader
  12. march — the month
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. root — of a word
  16. root — of a plant
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cabinet — a cupboard

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