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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: bark · wave · patient · net · current · hand · degree · march

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. hand — help
  3. net — for catching
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. hand — in cards
  6. degree — an amount
  7. net — in sport
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. net — after costs
  10. current — electric
  11. march — the month
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. current — of water
  14. bark — to shout
  15. march — music
  16. degree — from a university
  17. current — happening now
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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