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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: mark · arm · stem · land · rash · cold · kick · roll

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. rash — a series
  4. mark — a grade
  5. stem — to come from
  6. rash — hasty
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. land — ground
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mark — a trace
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kick — in football
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. roll — a list
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. roll — a cake

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