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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: cold · rule · lean · bark · mine · stand · snap · stem

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. snap — to click
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. rule — government
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stem — to come from
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. cold — an illness
  10. rule — a law
  11. stand — to bear
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. bark — to shout
  22. mine — for digging
  23. lean — thin
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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