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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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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: court · degree · patient · bay · drill · rule · chest · stock

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. court — of a king
  3. stock — shares
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. drill — a practice
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. degree — an amount
  8. drill — the tool
  9. degree — from a university
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. degree — temperature
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of law
  14. chest — a box
  15. stock — goods
  16. drill — army training
  17. rule — a law
  18. rule — government
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. chest — of your body

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