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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: chest · straw · stem · cap · bark · ball · spell · wake

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chest — a box
  4. spell — letters
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. ball — a great time
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cap — a lid
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — of ice
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wake — a trail
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. spell — a short time
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. spell — magic
  24. straw — a straw man

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