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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: mug · chip · trunk · cold · present · stem · wound · bark

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mug — a face
  3. present — there
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mug — to rob
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mug — a cup
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. bark — to shout
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. present — the time now
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. chip — for betting

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