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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: pit · stem · rash · degree · hand · row · race · jam

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. degree — an amount
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. rash — a series
  8. degree — temperature
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. row — a line
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stem — to come from
  14. race — humankind
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. degree — from a university
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pit — in a race
  19. race — a contest
  20. rash — hasty
  21. race — the arms race
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. pit — a hole
  24. stem — of a plant

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