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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: fall · arm · saw · season · wind · march · stem · degree

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. fall — to drop
  8. degree — an amount
  9. saw — the tool
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. fall — to drop
  12. march — music
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stem — to come from
  16. march — the month
  17. season — in sport
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fall — the season
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. march — the month
  24. arm — part of the body

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