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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · stem · spring · ground · bank · pit · degree · row

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. ground — crushed
  3. row — to paddle
  4. stem — to come from
  5. pit — a hole
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bank — of a river
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. pit — in a race
  12. land — a country
  13. ground — the earth
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bank — for money
  18. row — a line
  19. spring — of water
  20. land — to come down
  21. ground — a position
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — the season
  24. bank — for money

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