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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. degree — temperature
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. stem — to come from
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. net — after costs
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stand — to bear
  12. net — in sport
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. sharp — clever
  17. bat — the animal
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. mate — a friend
  23. mate — to breed
  24. net — for catching

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