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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.

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: rush · toast · bat · degree · rest · wound · trunk · patient

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rest — a break
  4. rest — what's left
  5. wound — an injury
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. degree — from a university
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rush — hurry
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. bat — in an idiom

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