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

Word bank: stem · firm · court · wind · fall · degree

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. 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. firm — steady
  2. stem — to come from
  3. firm — decided
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. firm — a company
  8. degree — an amount
  9. court — of law
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. 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