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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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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: mouse · ground · stem · bat · leaves · club · cold · tear

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. stem — to come from
  3. club — for golf
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. tear — from crying
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. tear — to rip
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ground — a position
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. club — for dancing
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — crushed
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. club — a group
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — the Cold War

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