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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. mine — for digging
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. bark — to shout
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. stem — to come from
  16. rash — hasty
  17. court — for sport
  18. rash — a series
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — of law

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