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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. degree — from a university
  4. fine — all right
  5. drill — a practice
  6. degree — temperature
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. fall — to drop
  10. row — a line
  11. ball — a great time
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fine — high quality
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. drill — the tool
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. fall — the season
  19. stem — to come from
  20. fall — to drop
  21. row — to paddle
  22. drill — army training
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. clip — for paper

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