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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 116 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. game — a match
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bark — to shout
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. track — to keep track
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — child
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. track — a path
  23. track — a song
  24. trunk — of a car

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