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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: degree · scale · stem · wave · cold · bear · can · field

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. field — for sport
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. can — a tin
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. degree — temperature
  7. scale — in music
  8. field — a subject
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bear — the animal
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bear — the animal
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — farmland
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. degree — an amount
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cold — an illness
  24. can — to be able to

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