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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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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: mate · degree · season · mine · firm · chest · pitcher · stem

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. season — of the year
  4. degree — from a university
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mine — for digging
  7. firm — a company
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mate — a friend
  10. chest — of your body
  11. degree — temperature
  12. firm — decided
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. degree — an amount
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — in sport
  23. stem — to come from
  24. firm — steady

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