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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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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: bank · date · chest · degree · ground · tear · pitch · patient

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. tear — from crying
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. tear — to rip
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. chest — of your body
  7. date — the fruit
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bank — for money
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bank — for money
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. pitch — completely
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. chest — a box
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. ground — the earth

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