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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: cold · rock · patient · cell · bound · bat · lean · degree

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. degree — temperature
  4. rock — a stone
  5. bat — the animal
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. lean — to bend
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cell — a phone
  12. lean — thin
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — music
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cell — in biology
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bound — obliged
  24. cell — in a prison

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