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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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Word bank
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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: arm · cold · stem · cap · game · trunk

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a hat
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. cold — an illness
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. game — a match
  12. cold — not warm
  13. game — wild animals
  14. stem — to come from
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stem — a stem cell

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