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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: drill · cold · cap · spring · branch · mug · calf · stem

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. mug — to rob
  5. drill — the tool
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. mug — a cup
  8. cap — a lid
  9. stem — to come from
  10. mug — a face
  11. drill — army training
  12. branch — a division
  13. cap — of ice
  14. drill — a practice
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. spring — of water
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cap — a hat
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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