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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. game — wild animals
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tube — the underground
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. drill — army training
  11. row — to paddle
  12. drill — a practice
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. march — the month
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. game — a match
  19. drill — the tool
  20. tube — a container
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stem — to come from
  23. row — a line
  24. stem — of a plant

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