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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. season — of the year
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bear — the animal
  9. kid — child
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. stem — to come from
  13. plane — a tool
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bear — the animal
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. bark — to shout
  22. degree — an amount
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pitch — a sports field

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