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

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. degree — temperature
  3. face — part of the head
  4. net — in sport
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. face — to confront
  10. degree — an amount
  11. face — to point toward
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. net — after costs
  15. cold — not warm
  16. net — for catching
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cold — an illness

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