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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. file — a tool
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. file — a document
  5. shower — to wash
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. shower — rain
  15. row — to paddle
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — hurry
  18. stem — to come from
  19. file — a line of people
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. degree — temperature
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. kick — in football
  24. row — a line

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