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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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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: wind · court · craft · cold · tear · stem · cell · press

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cell — a phone
  5. stem — to come from
  6. tear — from crying
  7. craft — a skill
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wind — moving air
  10. craft — boats
  11. court — for sport
  12. press — to push
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — not warm
  15. press — newspapers
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. court — of law
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cell — in biology
  20. court — of a king
  21. cold — an illness
  22. press — a publisher
  23. tear — to rip
  24. craft — a handicraft

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