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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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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: lie · calf · bowl · tear · squash · cold · stem · trunk

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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. stem — a stem cell
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. tear — from crying
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. tear — from crying
  13. squash — to crush
  14. cold — an illness
  15. lie — to recline
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. stem — to come from
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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