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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: field · cell · prune · deal · kid · mate · patient · degree

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. 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. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. degree — from a university
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. field — for sport
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. deal — to handle
  8. cell — in biology
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. field — farmland
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — a friend
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. prune — to trim
  19. field — a subject
  20. prune — to trim
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cell — a phone
  23. degree — an amount
  24. 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