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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: stem · root · hide · snap · cold · fine · field · tear

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  2. root — of a plant
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. root — of a word
  8. fine — all right
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. fine — high quality
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. cold — not warm
  20. field — a subject
  21. snap — to click
  22. tear — from crying
  23. root — the cause
  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