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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hide · bound · kick · straw · season · rush · stem · cold

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. season — of the year
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bound — obliged
  7. season — in sport
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bound — tied together
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. rush — hurry
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bound — certain
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. kick — in football
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. hide — to keep secret

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