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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 · cabinet · file · vault · ground · game · wind

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. degree — temperature
  3. ground — the earth
  4. wind — moving air
  5. vault — a safe
  6. degree — from a university
  7. game — a match
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. ground — crushed
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. degree — an amount
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. file — a tool
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. file — a document
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. game — wild animals

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