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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fine — all right
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. plane — a tool
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. snap — to click
  15. fine — high quality
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. rock — music
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rock — a stone
  20. shower — rain
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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