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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 120 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: mate · lean · straw · patient · mine · bear · file · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mate — to breed
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. file — a line of people
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bear — the animal
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. file — a document
  17. lean — to bend
  18. mine — for digging
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. file — a tool
  22. lean — thin
  23. degree — from a university
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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