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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: drill · date · chest · cell · season · scale · bear · stem

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. season — of the year
  3. cell — a phone
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bear — the animal
  8. scale — in music
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. drill — army training
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. drill — a practice
  18. date — the fruit
  19. chest — a box
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cell — in biology
  22. season — in sport
  23. scale — size or range
  24. bear — the animal

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