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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 120 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: spring · chest · stem · bound · degree · bat · cap · lash

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cap — a hat
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. bound — certain
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stem — to come from
  10. spring — the season
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bound — tied together
  15. chest — a box
  16. degree — temperature
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. chest — of your body
  23. spring — of water
  24. chest — of your body

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