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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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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: hand · patient · mine · row · degree · tube · lean · pop

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. row — to paddle
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. degree — an amount
  7. row — a line
  8. pop — soda
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tube — the underground
  11. mine — for digging
  12. tube — a container
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. hand — in cards
  15. pop — music
  16. lean — to bend
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. pop — to visit
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. hand — help
  23. lean — thin
  24. hand — part of the body

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