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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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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: pass · tear · patient · cold · rash · stand · straw · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rash — a series
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stand — to bear
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rash — hasty
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. degree — an amount
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. pass — a permit
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. tear — from crying

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