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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. root — of a plant
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. cold — an illness
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. root — the cause
  14. shower — rain
  15. season — in sport
  16. root — of a word
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. shower — to wash
  23. season — of the year
  24. stem — to come from

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