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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: patient · degree · chair · kid · wound · suit · file · kick

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. suit — to fit
  3. file — a tool
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kid — child
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. file — a document
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. suit — clothes
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kid — to tease
  13. file — a line of people
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chair — a leader
  16. kick — in football
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. suit — in cards
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. chair — to sit on

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