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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: wake · hide · degree · present · row · stem · capital · band

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. present — the time now
  3. band — a music group
  4. capital — money
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wake — a trail
  10. degree — from a university
  11. band — a ring
  12. present — a gift
  13. degree — temperature
  14. present — there
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. degree — an amount
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. stem — to come from
  20. capital — a city
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. wake — before a funeral

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