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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bark · row · lie · last · stem · bat · track · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bat — the animal
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. track — a path
  8. last — to go on
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. bark — to shout
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. last — finally
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. row — to paddle
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. row — a line
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lie — to recline
  21. track — a song
  22. last — final
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. lie — an untruth

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