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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bank — for money
  5. shower — rain
  6. wind — moving air
  7. stem — to come from
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. degree — an amount
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bank — for money
  20. pitch — completely
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bank — of a river
  24. stem — a stem cell

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