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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: fork · degree · patient · straw · rule · row

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. rule — government
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. degree — an amount
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. row — a line
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rule — a law
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. row — to paddle

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