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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: cold · kick · race · stem · bulb · sharp · fan · fork

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stem — to come from
  3. kick — in football
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. race — the arms race
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. cold — an illness
  14. sharp — clever
  15. race — a contest
  16. fork — in a road
  17. race — humankind
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bulb — for light
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bulb — for light
  24. fan — a supporter

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