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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. degree — an amount
  3. suit — in cards
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. shower — rain
  6. spring — a coil
  7. rock — music
  8. stem — to come from
  9. suit — to fit
  10. degree — from a university
  11. spring — of water
  12. present — there
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. present — a gift
  16. shower — to wash
  17. row — a line
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. row — to paddle
  20. suit — clothes
  21. rock — a stone
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. spring — the season
  24. degree — temperature

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