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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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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: wave · straw · fork · mate · cold · charge · stem · game

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cold — an illness
  4. charge — in control
  5. cold — not warm
  6. charge — electricity
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. game — a match
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. mate — a partner
  13. charge — a price
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. mate — to breed
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. stem — to come from
  22. mate — a friend
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. stem — of a plant

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