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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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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: snap · prune · race · bank · cold · mate · stem · sharp

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. stem — to come from
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bank — for money
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. mate — a partner
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mate — to breed
  10. cold — not warm
  11. sharp — clever
  12. mate — a friend
  13. snap — to click
  14. race — a contest
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bank — for money
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. race — humankind
  24. bank — of a river

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