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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: trunk · land · stem · kid · bark · ground · date · wake

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. land — a country
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. stem — to come from
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. ground — the earth
  12. date — the fruit
  13. wake — a trail
  14. land — ground
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. kid — child
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. land — to come down
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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