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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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468
Word bank
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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  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. stem — a stem cell
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. kid — to tease
  6. staff — employees
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. face — to confront
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. stem — to come from
  17. pitch — completely
  18. kid — child
  19. staff — employees
  20. face — to point toward
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. face — part of the head
  23. staff — a stick
  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