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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: dip · degree · jam · can · spring · march · kid · stem

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. can — to be able to
  5. spring — the season
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — a tin
  13. march — the month
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — to come from
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. degree — temperature
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. dip — to sink

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