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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. pop — music
  3. degree — from a university
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. prune — to trim
  6. race — humankind
  7. pop — to visit
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. mate — to breed
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. degree — an amount
  14. kick — in football
  15. prune — to trim
  16. race — a contest
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. mate — a friend
  20. race — the arms race
  21. mate — a partner
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. pop — soda
  24. kick — a thrill

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