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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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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: cabinet · file · prune · chest · deal · patient · race · degree

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. race — a contest
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. deal — to handle
  6. degree — from a university
  7. file — a document
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. race — the arms race
  10. chest — a box
  11. file — a tool
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. race — humankind
  16. chest — of your body
  17. prune — to trim
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. chest — of your body

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