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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. chair — a leader
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. lie — to recline
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a great time
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. wind — moving air
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle

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