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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.

Words on the sheet
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: root · shower · march · season · bore · perch · degree · stem

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. root — of a plant
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bore — to drill
  7. season — of the year
  8. march — the month
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. root — of a word
  11. degree — an amount
  12. march — music
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. shower — rain
  16. season — in sport
  17. bore — to tire
  18. shower — to wash
  19. perch — the fish
  20. stem — to come from
  21. march — the month
  22. root — the cause
  23. perch — for a bird
  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