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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 · rash · clip · date · spring · saw · degree · drill

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. spring — a coil
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. saw — the tool
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. clip — for paper
  8. degree — from a university
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — the tool
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. rash — hasty
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. degree — temperature
  17. spring — the season
  18. clip — a video
  19. saw — the tool
  20. degree — an amount
  21. rash — a series
  22. drill — army training
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. spring — of water

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