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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.

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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: degree · bay · wave · patient · cabinet · tear · pop · kid

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kid — to tease
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. degree — from a university
  7. tear — to rip
  8. pop — soda
  9. kid — child
  10. tear — from crying
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. pop — music
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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