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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. stand — to bear
  5. stem — to come from
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. game — wild animals
  9. hand — help
  10. cap — a lid
  11. fine — high quality
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. spring — a coil
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. spring — the season
  18. cap — of ice
  19. spring — of water
  20. game — a match
  21. fine — all right
  22. bark — to shout
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stand — on your feet

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