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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: stem · cold · hide · spring · bass · current · tear · calf

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tear — from crying
  13. current — happening now
  14. current — of water
  15. bass — the fish
  16. current — electric
  17. tear — to rip
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bass — low music
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. spring — of water

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