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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. chair — a leader
  3. stem — to come from
  4. spring — of water
  5. season — of the year
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. spring — a coil
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. bat — the animal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. spring — the season
  24. season — in sport

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