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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: straw · patient · tear · content · degree · mouse · court · snap

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. content — the amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. tear — from crying
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. content — happy
  12. court — of law
  13. tear — to rip
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. court — for sport
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. court — of a king
  20. snap — to click
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. tear — from crying
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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