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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 116 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cold — an illness
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. lie — to recline
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. mate — a friend
  12. cold — not warm
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. last — final
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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