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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bound — tied together
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bound — obliged
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. perch — the fish
  9. plane — a tool
  10. bound — certain
  11. spell — letters
  12. kick — in football
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — to come from
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. track — a path
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. track — a song
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. track — to keep track
  24. spell — a short time

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