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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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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 · degree · land · bowl · nail · stem · season · ball

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. land — ground
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. stem — to come from
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ball — a great time
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. wound — an injury
  16. ball — a dance
  17. season — in sport
  18. land — a country
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. season — of the year
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. land — to come down

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