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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bank — for money
  5. chest — of your body
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stem — to come from
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bound — obliged
  11. rash — hasty
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bound — certain
  14. mate — to breed
  15. chest — a box
  16. bank — of a river
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bound — tied together
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bank — for money
  23. rash — a series
  24. stem — a stem cell

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