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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 116 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: cold · ruler · rash · bat · content · club · face · stem

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. club — for golf
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. face — part of the head
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. content — the amount
  10. face — to confront
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. cold — not warm
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. club — for dancing
  16. bat — the animal
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. club — a group
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. rash — a series
  21. face — to point toward
  22. rash — hasty
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. content — happy

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