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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.

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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: lie · pitch · degree · race · land · temple · stem · arm

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. lie — to recline
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. stem — to come from
  9. land — to come down
  10. degree — from a university
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. degree — an amount
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. land — ground
  17. race — humankind
  18. pitch — completely
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. degree — temperature
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. pitch — a sports field

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