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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: season · stem · cold · file · degree · jam · shower · clip

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. stem — to come from
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. degree — temperature
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. cold — not warm
  11. file — a document
  12. shower — rain
  13. clip — a video
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. degree — an amount
  16. season — in sport
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cold — an illness
  19. season — of the year
  20. clip — to cut
  21. file — a tool
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a line of people
  24. season — to add flavour

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