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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: content · wave · stem · patient · jam · degree · stick · rule

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stem — to come from
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. degree — from a university
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. rule — government
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. degree — temperature
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. rule — a law
  21. content — the amount
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. patient — a sick person

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