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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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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: lash · wake · date · degree · stem · row

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. stem — to come from
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — a trail
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. row — a line
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. row — to paddle
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. degree — an amount
  14. date — the fruit
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wake — to stop sleeping

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