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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: kid · board · degree · firm · court · bore · shower · patient

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. degree — temperature
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. kid — to tease
  6. degree — from a university
  7. court — for sport
  8. shower — to wash
  9. court — of law
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. court — of a king
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bore — to tire
  14. firm — steady
  15. board — to get on
  16. bore — to drill
  17. board — a committee
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. degree — an amount
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. kid — child
  22. firm — decided
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. shower — rain

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