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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: stem · lash · coach · degree · pitch · cell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cell — in biology
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pitch — completely
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. stem — to come from
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. stem — a stem cell

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