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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: patient · face · club · key · ground · net · game · degree

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. ground — the earth
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. club — for golf
  5. face — part of the head
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — the most important part
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — a position
  12. key — in music
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — after costs
  15. ground — crushed
  16. face — to point toward
  17. degree — from a university
  18. game — wild animals
  19. degree — an amount
  20. net — in sport
  21. club — a group
  22. club — for dancing
  23. game — a match
  24. face — to confront

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