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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: swing · net · patient · pitcher · degree · wound · rush · race

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. degree — from a university
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. net — in sport
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. degree — temperature
  12. swing — in golf
  13. rush — hurry
  14. race — a contest
  15. wound — an injury
  16. net — for catching
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. race — humankind
  19. wound — an injury
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. degree — an amount
  23. race — the arms race
  24. patient — a sick person

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