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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 116 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: rule · drill · wound · tear · bat · degree · straw · patient

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. drill — army training
  3. degree — from a university
  4. drill — a practice
  5. bat — the animal
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. degree — temperature
  12. tear — from crying
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rule — government
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. wound — an injury
  18. drill — the tool
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. degree — an amount
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. wound — an injury

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