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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · kick · rush · pit · patient · mine · degree · plane

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. degree — from a university
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. pit — in a race
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. mine — for digging
  13. kick — in football
  14. rush — hurry
  15. march — music
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. plane — a tool
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. march — the month
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. march — the month
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pit — a hole

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