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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: dip · squash · cold · bark · wake · clip · pass · stem

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. bark — to shout
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. squash — the sport
  8. pass — a permit
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cold — an illness
  15. squash — to crush
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. dip — to sink
  18. wake — a trail
  19. stem — to come from
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. stem — a stem cell

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