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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.

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: wind · stem · degree · fine · hand · bass · mug · court

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bass — low music
  3. hand — help
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. mug — a cup
  6. court — of a king
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. fine — all right
  10. court — for sport
  11. bass — the fish
  12. fine — high quality
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. court — of law
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. mug — to rob
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stem — to come from
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mug — a face
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wind — moving air

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