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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. prune — to trim
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stem — to come from
  13. prune — to trim
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cold — not warm
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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