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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stem — to come from
  6. season — in sport
  7. degree — from a university
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. season — of the year
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. ground — crushed
  15. degree — temperature
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. ground — the earth
  18. fan — to cool the air

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