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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 120 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: bear · cold · land · mouse · firm · stem · degree · chip

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. degree — temperature
  5. stem — to come from
  6. firm — a company
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. firm — decided
  9. degree — from a university
  10. chip — for betting
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. cold — not warm
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. firm — steady
  20. degree — an amount
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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