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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: clip · key · pitch · stem · wake · degree · last · fan

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. degree — temperature
  4. key — for a lock
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wake — a trail
  13. last — final
  14. clip — to cut
  15. last — to go on
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — completely
  20. stem — to come from
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. key — in music
  23. last — finally
  24. key — the most important part

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