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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: cell · mate · court · stem · face · degree

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. mate — to breed
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mate — a partner
  5. face — to point toward
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. stem — to come from
  10. court — of law
  11. mate — a friend
  12. court — for sport
  13. cell — a phone
  14. face — to confront
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. court — of a king
  18. face — part of the head

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