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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: pass · straw · arm · degree · cell · patient · stand · file

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. degree — from a university
  6. stand — to bear
  7. file — a tool
  8. cell — a phone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — in biology
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pass — a permit
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cell — in a prison

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