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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. spell — letters
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bank — of a river
  5. clip — to cut
  6. row — a line
  7. shower — to wash
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. spell — magic
  11. bank — for money
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bank — for money
  14. chair — a leader
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. fall — the season
  19. clip — a video
  20. fall — to drop
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. row — to paddle
  24. fall — to drop

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