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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
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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: cold · squash · drill · scale · fan · stem · degree · bowl

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. degree — an amount
  3. stem — to come from
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. squash — the sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. squash — to crush
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. scale — in music
  14. drill — army training
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. drill — a practice
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. bowl — a dish

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