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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: race · row · degree · cold · bore · stem

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. degree — an amount
  3. race — humankind
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bore — to drill
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. degree — from a university
  9. row — a line
  10. stem — to come from
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cold — an illness
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bore — to tire
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bore — gave birth

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