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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: scale · hide · patient · dip · chair · ground · degree · rash

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. scale — in music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. ground — crushed
  13. degree — an amount
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — a series
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. rash — hasty
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. degree — from a university
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. dip — to sink

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