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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: kid · stem · temple · wound · cold · toast · fan · branch

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. wound — an injury
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. branch — a division
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. kid — child
  15. toast — bread
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cold — not warm
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wound — an injury
  24. kid — to tease

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