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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 116 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: squash · degree · rush · scale · bat · capital · patient · clip

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bat — the animal
  5. capital — a city
  6. degree — temperature
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. capital — money
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. squash — to crush
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rush — hurry
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. scale — in music
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. patient — a sick person

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