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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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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: wound · spring · cold · prune · key · chest · stem · cabinet

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. key — for a lock
  8. spring — of water
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. spring — the season
  14. wound — an injury
  15. key — the most important part
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. prune — to trim
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cold — an illness
  23. prune — to trim
  24. key — in music

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