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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: track · fall · branch · stem · straw · cold · lean · mouse

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lean — thin
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fall — the season
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fall — to drop
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. track — a path
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. branch — a division
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — a song
  14. track — to keep track
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lean — to bend
  22. stem — to come from
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — a straw man

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