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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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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: press · bat · race · club · ruler · degree · patient · march

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. march — the month
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. march — the month
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. press — to push
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. club — for golf
  9. degree — from a university
  10. race — humankind
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. race — the arms race
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. club — for dancing
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. press — newspapers
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. degree — an amount
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. club — a group
  21. march — music
  22. press — a publisher
  23. race — a contest
  24. bat — the animal

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