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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. season — in sport
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. season — of the year
  5. wound — an injury
  6. stem — to come from
  7. plane — a tool
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. capital — a city
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — humankind
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bank — for money
  21. bank — of a river
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bank — for money
  24. capital — money

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