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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: hand · straw · hide · cell · bowl · stem · wake · toast

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. toast — bread
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. hand — help
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stem — to come from
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cell — in biology
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wake — a trail

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