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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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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: fork · press · chest · cell · degree · coach · file · patient

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cell — a phone
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — a box
  5. file — a line of people
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. file — a tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. press — newspapers
  11. press — a publisher
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. file — a document
  16. fork — in a road
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. degree — from a university
  19. press — to push
  20. degree — temperature
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — in biology

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