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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 always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. season — in sport
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. season — of the year
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. stem — to come from

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