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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: mine · saw · patient · degree · hand · cold · coach · snap

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. degree — temperature
  6. hand — help
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mine — for digging
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. degree — from a university
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — the tool
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. snap — to click
  19. cold — an illness
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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