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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: patient · degree · content · rush · last · row · land · lean

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. last — to go on
  4. land — a country
  5. last — finally
  6. lean — to bend
  7. row — to paddle
  8. degree — from a university
  9. lean — thin
  10. rush — hurry
  11. content — the amount
  12. degree — an amount
  13. last — final
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. row — a line
  18. content — happy
  19. land — ground
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. land — to come down
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. lean — to rest against

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