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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. craft — a skill
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stand — to bear
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. cold — an illness
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. cold — not warm
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. bark — to shout

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