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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: mate · court · last · cold · mark · stem · bark · hide

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. bark — to shout
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mate — a friend
  7. last — to go on
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mate — a partner
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. court — of a king
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. mate — to breed
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. last — final
  20. mark — a grade
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of law
  23. last — finally
  24. cold — an illness

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