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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. wound — an injury
  3. last — final
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. tear — from crying
  6. last — to go on
  7. season — of the year
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. land — ground
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — a country
  17. wound — an injury
  18. land — to come down
  19. season — in sport
  20. last — finally
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. cold — the Cold War

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