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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: stem · cold · wind · ground · branch · season · suit · mate

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. suit — to fit
  4. ground — a position
  5. cold — not warm
  6. season — in sport
  7. branch — a division
  8. suit — clothes
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. stem — to come from
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mate — a partner
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. mate — to breed
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — the earth
  20. season — of the year
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. suit — in cards

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