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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 116 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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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: stem · fall · mouse · degree · net · craft · row · band

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. fall — to drop
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. net — for catching
  10. degree — an amount
  11. band — a music group
  12. net — in sport
  13. degree — from a university
  14. fall — the season
  15. craft — a skill
  16. fall — to drop
  17. craft — boats
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — to come from
  20. degree — temperature
  21. row — a line
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mouse — the animal

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