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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: file · prune · stem · cell · rash · cold · scale · bear

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bear — the animal
  5. stem — to come from
  6. file — a tool
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cell — in biology
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rash — hasty
  15. cold — not warm
  16. scale — in music
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. scale — size or range
  20. file — a document
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — a series

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