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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: patient · capital · degree · arm · rest · prune · cell · tube

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cell — a phone
  6. capital — money
  7. degree — temperature
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. tube — a container
  12. rest — what's left
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cell — in biology
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rest — a break
  23. capital — a city
  24. degree — from a university

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