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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: press · kid · patient · last · mouse · content · degree · tube

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. press — a publisher
  8. last — final
  9. degree — from a university
  10. last — finally
  11. press — to push
  12. degree — an amount
  13. last — to go on
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — happy
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — the underground
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. press — newspapers
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. kid — child
  24. tube — in a tire

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