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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · patient · club · game · clip · degree · coach · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. clip — to cut
  6. club — a group
  7. bat — the animal
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. fork — in a road
  15. clip — a video
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. clip — for paper
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. club — for dancing
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. club — for golf

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