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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: pass · straw · arm · degree · cell · patient

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. degree — from a university
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cell — in biology
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. pass — a permit
  14. cell — a phone
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. degree — temperature
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. degree — an amount

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