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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 120 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: pop · deal · kid · season · bark · cold · nail · stem

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. stem — to come from
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pop — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. season — of the year
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. season — in sport
  12. bark — to shout
  13. pop — to visit
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. kid — child
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. deal — to handle
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pop — soda
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. cold — not warm

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