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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: degree · pitch · stem · game · lash · cap · band · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. cap — a lid
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. pitch — completely
  8. game — wild animals
  9. net — for catching
  10. cap — a hat
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. game — a match
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. stem — to come from
  15. degree — an amount
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. net — in sport
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  24. cap — of ice

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