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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: wake · march · stem · last · degree · lie · current · spell

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. march — music
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lie — to recline
  7. current — of water
  8. current — electric
  9. stem — to come from
  10. degree — from a university
  11. spell — magic
  12. last — finally
  13. degree — temperature
  14. last — to go on
  15. wake — a trail
  16. spell — a short time
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. last — final
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. current — happening now
  21. spell — letters
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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