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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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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: cold · fall · jam · degree · stick · branch · stem · race

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. branch — a division
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. race — a contest
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. race — humankind
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fall — to drop
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. fall — to drop
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fall — the season
  15. degree — an amount
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. race — the arms race
  19. degree — from a university
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cold — not warm

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