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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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. cold — the Cold War
  4. court — for sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — to paddle
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. court — of law
  17. cold — not warm
  18. swing — in golf
  19. ball — a dance
  20. row — a line
  21. ball — a great time
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. court — of a king
  24. degree — an amount

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