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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: patient · cold · hide · scale · land · kick · stem · cap

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. land — to come down
  3. cap — a lid
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. stem — to come from
  7. land — ground
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cap — of ice
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. cold — not warm
  13. land — a country
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cold — an illness
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. cap — a hat
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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