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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 120 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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. bark — to shout
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pass — a permit
  7. cold — an illness
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — in music
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. field — for sport
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. stem — to come from
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. pass — to spend time

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