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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 116 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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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: row · stem · degree · tube · chair · band · ruler · cold

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. band — a music group
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. row — a line
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. tube — the underground
  12. degree — from a university
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. degree — temperature
  17. tube — a container
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cold — an illness
  21. degree — an amount
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. band — a ring
  24. row — to paddle

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