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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 · rest · tear · prune · patient · row

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. tear — from crying
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. degree — temperature
  6. rest — a break
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rest — what's left
  10. degree — an amount
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. rest — what's left
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a line
  15. degree — from a university
  16. tear — to rip
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. row — a quarrel

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