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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
468
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: roll · cold · perch · fan · bark · stem · present · clip

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. present — a gift
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. roll — a cake
  8. clip — to cut
  9. present — there
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. roll — a list
  16. present — the time now
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bark — to shout
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. cold — an illness
  24. clip — a video

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