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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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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: degree · stem · rush · pound · root · cap · club · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  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. kid — child
  2. pound — a weight
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. degree — an amount
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. stem — to come from
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cap — a lid
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. root — of a plant
  14. degree — from a university
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. rush — hurry
  20. club — for golf
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — a group
  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