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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: stem · degree · bound · wake · land · pass · rash · pop

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pop — music
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — a series
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. pass — a permit
  9. land — a country
  10. bound — tied together
  11. land — ground
  12. pop — soda
  13. land — to come down
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. wake — a trail
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pop — to visit
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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