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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: wound · stem · hand · degree · rush · can · cap · temple

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. can — to be able to
  3. can — a tin
  4. cap — a lid
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. can — a tin
  8. cap — of ice
  9. stem — to come from
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rush — hurry
  17. cap — a hat
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wound — an injury
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hand — in cards

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