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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: rash · row · root · shower · degree · net · stem · clip

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. clip — to cut
  5. net — after costs
  6. root — of a word
  7. clip — for paper
  8. net — in sport
  9. root — of a plant
  10. clip — a video
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. root — the cause
  13. stem — to come from
  14. row — to paddle
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. row — a line
  19. rash — hasty
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. shower — rain
  23. net — for catching
  24. rash — a series

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