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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: cold · patient · straw · track · degree · season · ruler · rock

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. track — a song
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rock — music
  7. track — to keep track
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rock — a stone
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. degree — temperature
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — in sport
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. track — a path
  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