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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: hide · hand · patient · temple · degree · mine · wind · court

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. hand — help
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. court — for sport
  7. mine — for digging
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. court — of a king
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. degree — from a university
  15. hand — in cards
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. court — of law

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