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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: march · degree · plane · bay · stem · current · cold · band

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. current — of water
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. plane — a tool
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. current — electric
  9. degree — temperature
  10. march — the month
  11. band — a ring
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. current — happening now
  14. stem — to come from
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. march — the month
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. march — music
  19. degree — from a university
  20. band — a music group
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — an amount
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. plane — in geometry

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