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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: cold · field · squash · bound · rest · stem · fall · roll

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. roll — a list
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bound — certain
  7. roll — a cake
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cold — an illness
  12. field — for sport
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bound — obliged
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. squash — to crush
  19. rest — what's left
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. bound — tied together

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