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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: bark · mate · lash · court · stem · trunk · band · degree

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mate — a friend
  4. court — of law
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. degree — from a university
  11. court — for sport
  12. stem — to come from
  13. mate — a partner
  14. band — a ring
  15. bark — to shout
  16. mate — to breed
  17. band — a music group
  18. court — of a king
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of a tree

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