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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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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 · bat · degree · lash · pit · wind · row · mate

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. mate — a friend
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. row — a line
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bat — the animal
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. mate — a partner
  11. wind — moving air
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pit — a hole
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. degree — temperature
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. row — to paddle
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. wind — moving air
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — in a race

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