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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: patient · snap · rest · content · bark · sharp · chip · degree

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. snap — to click
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. chip — to eat
  7. content — the amount
  8. chip — for betting
  9. rest — what's left
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — to shout
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. rest — a break
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. content — happy
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. sharp — clever
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. rest — what's left
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. content — videos and posts

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