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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: race · patient · craft · spell · degree · straw

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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. patient — a sick person
  4. degree — from a university
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. spell — a short time
  7. race — a contest
  8. degree — temperature
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. spell — letters
  11. craft — a skill
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. spell — magic
  17. craft — boats
  18. straw — a straw man

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