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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 116 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 · patient · prune · band · pit · snap · pitcher · rash

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rash — hasty
  4. pit — in a race
  5. degree — temperature
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — a series
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. prune — to trim
  13. band — a ring
  14. prune — to trim
  15. degree — an amount
  16. snap — to click
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a music group
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pit — a hole
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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