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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: bowl · rash · chest · stem · prune · degree · lean · clip

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lean — to bend
  3. rash — a series
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. clip — a video
  9. stem — to come from
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rash — hasty
  12. chest — of your body
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lean — thin
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. degree — temperature
  21. prune — to trim
  22. chest — a box
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. chest — of your 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