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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: mate · band · shower · degree · cold · arm · rest · stem

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rest — what's left
  3. shower — rain
  4. band — a music group
  5. mate — a friend
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cold — not warm
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. stem — to come from
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. band — a ring
  15. degree — temperature
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cold — an illness
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. rest — a break
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. mate — a partner
  24. degree — from a university

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