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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: shower · squash · cabinet · degree · bulb · land · court · patient

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. land — to come down
  3. squash — to crush
  4. shower — rain
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. court — of a king
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. court — for sport
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — for light
  16. court — of law
  17. degree — an amount
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. degree — from a university
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. squash — the sport
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. shower — to wash

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