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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 116 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: craft · hand · bass · mine · stem · ground · mate · degree

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bass — the fish
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. ground — the earth
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mate — to breed
  8. craft — boats
  9. degree — from a university
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. craft — a skill
  12. ground — crushed
  13. hand — help
  14. mine — for digging
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. stem — to come from
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bass — low music
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. ground — a position
  24. stem — a stem cell

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