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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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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: degree · leaves · mine · pitch · patient · temple · march · content

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. pitch — completely
  7. march — the month
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. march — music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. degree — an amount
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. degree — temperature
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — happy
  21. march — the month
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. mine — an explosive

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