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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: mouse · fan · march · kid · race · squash · degree · stem

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — a contest
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. kid — child
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. march — music
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. squash — to crush
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. race — humankind
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. race — the arms race
  22. degree — temperature
  23. march — the month
  24. stem — to come from

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