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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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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 · pass · degree · rock · content · race

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. race — the arms race
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. degree — an amount
  5. race — humankind
  6. stem — to come from
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. race — a contest
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. rock — a stone
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. content — happy
  16. degree — from a university
  17. content — the amount
  18. pass — a permit

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