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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bear — the animal
  9. spell — letters
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pass — a permit
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. spell — magic
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. pass — to succeed

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