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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: branch · cold · cell · calf · bark · land · press · stem

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. stem — of a plant
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cold — an illness
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. press — newspapers
  8. cell — a phone
  9. branch — a division
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — not warm
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. land — ground
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bark — to shout
  18. press — to push
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. land — a country
  23. land — to come down
  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