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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: mine · bark · current · ball · patient · pop · degree · file

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. current — happening now
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pop — to visit
  5. bark — to shout
  6. ball — a dance
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pop — music
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. file — a tool
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. pop — soda
  15. ball — a great time
  16. current — electric
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. current — of water

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