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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — a phone
  5. can — to be able to
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — an illness
  8. row — to paddle
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — to breed
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. branch — a division
  14. can — a tin
  15. key — in music
  16. row — a line
  17. cold — not warm
  18. key — for a lock
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. mate — a friend

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