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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 116 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: spring · patient · degree · board · file · sharp

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  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. board — a committee
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. file — a tool
  5. spring — a coil
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. board — to get on
  8. spring — of water
  9. sharp — clever
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. spring — the season
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  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