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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: bear · patient · foot · content · stand · jam · wound · degree

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. degree — an amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wound — an injury
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. bear — the animal
  7. foot — a measure
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. degree — temperature
  10. stand — to bear
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. bear — the animal
  15. content — happy
  16. degree — from a university
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. content — the amount
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. jam — in traffic

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