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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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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: clip · field · kid · wound · shower · patient · degree · mate

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. degree — an amount
  4. clip — a video
  5. shower — rain
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mate — a friend
  9. field — for sport
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — to cut
  12. shower — to wash
  13. mate — a partner
  14. field — farmland
  15. wound — an injury
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. clip — for paper
  19. field — a subject
  20. kid — to tease
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. mate — to breed
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — child

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