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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. season — in sport
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. cue — a signal
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bark — to shout
  16. game — wild animals
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cue — a hint
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cue — for pool
  21. game — a match
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. stem — of a plant

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