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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: stem · prune · tube · cold · cabinet · row · face · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. face — part of the head
  4. degree — an amount
  5. row — to paddle
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. prune — to trim
  8. stem — to come from
  9. face — to confront
  10. row — a line
  11. face — to point toward
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cold — an illness
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — a container
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. prune — the fruit

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