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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · lean · straw · stem · swing · cell

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. cell — a phone
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. lean — thin
  6. lean — to bend
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. swing — to play on
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bark — to shout
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cell — in biology
  15. swing — music
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. swing — in golf
  18. bark — a dog's sound

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