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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: cell · squash · patient · face · stem · spell · straw · content

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. spell — magic
  4. stem — to come from
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. spell — a short time
  11. content — the amount
  12. face — to confront
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. content — happy
  15. spell — letters
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cell — a phone
  19. squash — the sport
  20. cell — in biology
  21. squash — to crush
  22. face — part of the head
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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