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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: bulb · patient · race · degree · charge · cold · drill · snap

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. bulb — for light
  5. degree — an amount
  6. race — humankind
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. charge — electricity
  10. race — the arms race
  11. drill — a practice
  12. drill — the tool
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. drill — army training
  15. snap — to click
  16. charge — in control
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bulb — for light
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. charge — a price

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