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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stem — to come from
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. capital — a city
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. capital — money
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. game — wild animals
  19. clip — a video
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. degree — from a university
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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