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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 120 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. file — a line of people
  6. club — a group
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. plane — a tool
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — for dancing
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. club — for golf
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mark — a trace
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mark — a grade
  24. wind — to turn a key

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