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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: march · row · stem · fan · fork · degree · chair · arm

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. degree — from a university
  3. march — the month
  4. stem — to come from
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. march — music
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. row — a line
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. march — the month
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. chair — a leader
  24. fan — a supporter

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