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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: current · pitch · stem · spring · plane · wax · degree · rule

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rule — government
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. wax — to grow
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. plane — a tool
  10. degree — temperature
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. rule — a law
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. pitch — completely
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — electric
  19. current — of water
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. stem — to come from
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. stem — a stem cell

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