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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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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: hand · kid · degree · clip · root · pass · patient · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. root — of a word
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. hand — in cards
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. kid — child
  8. root — of a plant
  9. kid — to tease
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. degree — an amount
  14. clip — a video
  15. pass — a permit
  16. root — the cause
  17. degree — temperature
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. degree — from a university
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of a king

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