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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: object · last · mine · fan · mouse · rush · patient · degree

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. object — to protest
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. object — an aim
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. last — final
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — from a university
  18. last — finally
  19. degree — an amount
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. object — a thing
  23. last — to go on
  24. degree — temperature

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