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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. stem — to come from
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. degree — from a university
  7. fall — to drop
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. suit — in cards
  12. fall — to drop
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. deal — to handle
  15. fall — the season
  16. suit — to fit
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. suit — clothes
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. degree — temperature
  24. deal — an agreement

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