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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 120 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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mark — a trace
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bear — the animal
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. rash — a series
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rash — hasty
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. branch — a division
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. mark — a grade
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bass — low music

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