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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: patient · degree · pass · court · jam · straw · sharp · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. court — of a king
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bat — the animal
  6. sharp — clever
  7. degree — from a university
  8. court — for sport
  9. pass — a permit
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. degree — temperature
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. court — of law

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