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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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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: patient · scale · degree · cell · deal · stem · fan · fall

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. scale — in music
  4. fall — to drop
  5. degree — an amount
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. stem — to come from
  10. deal — to handle
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fall — the season
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. scale — size or range
  22. cell — in biology
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. stem — of a plant

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