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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.

Make a worksheet

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: court · game · patient · suit · degree · charge · cold · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. degree — from a university
  3. suit — clothes
  4. chest — a box
  5. cold — an illness
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. charge — a price
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. degree — an amount
  13. suit — to fit
  14. charge — electricity
  15. degree — temperature
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cold — not warm
  20. court — for sport
  21. suit — in cards
  22. charge — in control
  23. game — a match
  24. game — wild animals

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