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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 · cold · court · patient · straw · bound · degree · present

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cold — not warm
  5. court — for sport
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — the time now
  8. court — of law
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. degree — temperature
  13. present — there
  14. bound — obliged
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bound — certain
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — of a king
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bound — tied together
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cold — an illness

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