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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: tube · shower · cold · ruler · patient · degree · cue · stand

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. tube — the underground
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. cue — a hint
  5. degree — an amount
  6. shower — rain
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. degree — temperature
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. cue — a signal
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. cue — for pool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. stand — to bear
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. tube — a container

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