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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: file · ground · degree · straw · current · kid · mine · stem

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stem — to come from
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mine — for digging
  5. ground — the earth
  6. current — electric
  7. file — a document
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. kid — to tease
  10. ground — a position
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. current — happening now
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — crushed
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. degree — temperature
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. current — 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