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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: cold · stem · foot · hide · branch · date · face · cap

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stem — to come from
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cap — a lid
  10. face — to point toward
  11. branch — a division
  12. date — the fruit
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. face — to confront
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cap — of ice
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. foot — a measure
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. cap — a hat
  24. branch — of a tree

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