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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 · prune · degree · deal · board · straw · cap · file

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cap — a hat
  3. file — a tool
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. prune — to trim
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cap — of ice
  9. degree — an amount
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. file — a line of people
  12. deal — to handle
  13. prune — to trim
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cap — a lid
  17. board — a committee
  18. file — a document
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. degree — temperature
  24. board — to get on

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