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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: rush · press · patient · coach · wind · cell · season · degree

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rush — hurry
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. press — a publisher
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cell — a phone
  10. press — to push
  11. wind — moving air
  12. degree — an amount
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. degree — from a university
  17. season — of the year
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. degree — temperature
  22. season — in sport
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cell — in biology

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