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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · perch · content · straw · stem · mine

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. degree — temperature
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stem — to come from
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. mine — for digging
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. perch — the fish
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. content — happy
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. perch — for a bird

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