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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. spring — a coil
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. staff — employees
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. degree — from a university
  13. stem — to come from
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rule — government
  17. spring — the season
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. spring — of water
  21. stand — to bear
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pitch — completely
  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