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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. stem — to come from
  3. field — for sport
  4. tube — a container
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. net — after costs
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. net — for catching
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — a division
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. net — in sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. field — a subject
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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