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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: stem · chair · scale · net · cold · bear · degree · saw

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. scale — in music
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bear — the animal
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. stem — to come from
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. net — after costs
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. net — for catching
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. net — in sport
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. degree — temperature
  22. chair — a leader
  23. bear — the animal
  24. saw — the tool

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