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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: patient · cold · pass · craft · degree · rest · fork · file

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. file — a tool
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. craft — a skill
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a document
  9. fork — in a road
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. craft — boats
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. degree — from a university
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. rest — what's left
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. cold — not warm
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. file — a line of people

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