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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: court · tube · bat · stem · degree · lie · bass · nail

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. bass — the instrument
  2. tube — a container
  3. bat — the animal
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. lie — to recline
  6. court — for sport
  7. stem — to come from
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bass — the fish
  13. tube — the underground
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bass — low music
  16. degree — temperature
  17. court — of law
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. court — of a king
  21. degree — from a university
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bat — for baseball
  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