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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: degree · stem · tear · press · cold · dip

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. degree — from a university
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stem — to come from
  6. press — to push
  7. press — a publisher
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. press — newspapers
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying

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