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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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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 · cold · face · pitch · patient · jam · bark · chest

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. degree — temperature
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. pitch — completely
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — not warm
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. chest — of your body
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. face — to point toward
  19. bark — to shout
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cold — an illness
  22. face — part of the head
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. chest — a box

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