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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. branch — a division
  9. cold — not warm
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. bass — the fish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. degree — an amount
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bass — low music
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. mate — a partner
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mate — to breed
  21. stem — to come from
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. mate — a friend
  24. bass — the instrument

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