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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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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: content · cold · saw · branch · spell · stem · deal · stick

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. saw — the tool
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. cold — not warm
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. branch — a division
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. content — the amount
  14. stem — to come from
  15. deal — to handle
  16. content — happy
  17. spell — letters
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. spell — a short time
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. saw — the tool
  24. spell — magic

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