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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 120 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: stem · kick · cold · lean · sharp · board · saw · foot

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. lean — to bend
  2. cold — an illness
  3. board — a committee
  4. board — to get on
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — to come from
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lean — thin
  20. foot — a measure
  21. sharp — clever
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — the tool
  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