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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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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: squash · degree · dip · kid · land · bass · patient · rush

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — to crush
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bass — the fish
  7. land — to come down
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. degree — an amount
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. rush — hurry
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bass — low music
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country
  19. kid — child
  20. dip — to sink
  21. kid — to tease
  22. degree — temperature
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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