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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: bore · cold · hide · rule · stem · root · last · fork

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. last — final
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — in a road
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. bore — to drill
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rule — government
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stem — to come from
  16. root — of a plant
  17. last — to go on
  18. bore — to tire
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. root — the cause
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. rule — a law
  23. root — of a word
  24. last — finally

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