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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cell — in biology
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cue — a signal
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. cold — not warm
  18. sharp — clever
  19. cue — for pool
  20. season — in sport
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. season — of the year
  24. wound — an injury

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