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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: cold · patient · mark · temple · shower · rest · degree · pass

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — an illness
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. rest — a break
  7. mark — a grade
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. shower — to wash
  11. rest — what's left
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mark — a trace
  14. shower — rain
  15. rest — what's left
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pass — a permit
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. degree — from a university

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