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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: bat · leaves · kid · patient · file · chair · deal · degree

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. kid — to tease
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kid — child
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chair — a leader
  18. degree — an amount
  19. deal — to handle
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bat — the animal

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