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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: shower · calf · patient · land · court · stock · degree · rule

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. land — ground
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. stock — goods
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. court — of a king
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stock — shares
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. shower — to wash
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. rule — government
  21. land — to come down
  22. court — for sport
  23. land — a country
  24. court — of law

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