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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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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: bowl · leaves · cabinet · stem · kid · content · degree · cold

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. content — the amount
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. content — happy
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. kid — child
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. stem — to come from
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. degree — from a university
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. leaves — lets stay

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