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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: nail · rush · field · pitcher · degree · wind · patient · cell

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. degree — temperature
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. field — for sport
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cell — in biology
  10. degree — an amount
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. field — a subject
  16. wind — moving air
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. field — farmland
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — a phone

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