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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: bark · cold · stem · chair · arm · shower · calf · degree

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. cold — an illness
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bark — to shout
  6. shower — to wash
  7. degree — an amount
  8. stem — to come from
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. chair — a leader
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. cold — not warm
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. shower — rain

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