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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a friend
  5. ball — a dance
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. degree — an amount
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fork — in a road
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mate — a partner
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. snap — to click
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. fork — to eat with

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