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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: degree · stem · spring · leaves · trunk · row · fan · capital

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. row — a line
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stem — to come from
  10. row — to paddle
  11. degree — from a university
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. degree — an amount
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. fan — to cool the air

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