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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: wound · patient · can · wake · root · current · field · degree

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. field — a subject
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. field — for sport
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. current — happening now
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. current — of water
  10. can — a tin
  11. wound — an injury
  12. can — a tin
  13. field — farmland
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. degree — an amount
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wound — an injury
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. current — electric
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wake — a trail
  23. degree — temperature
  24. root — of a word

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