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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: stem · bat · cold · object · wave · lash · face · degree

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. face — to confront
  4. bat — the animal
  5. object — to protest
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. face — to point toward
  8. stem — to come from
  9. object — an aim
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. face — part of the head
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. cold — an illness
  15. object — a thing
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. degree — from a university
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cold — not warm

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