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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · stem · roll · bear · land · squash · bat · mouse

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. roll — a cake
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. land — to come down
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. squash — to crush
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — the sport

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