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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 116 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. fall — to drop
  3. clip — to cut
  4. row — to paddle
  5. clip — a video
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. fall — the season
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. last — to go on
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. last — finally
  16. fall — to drop
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. last — final
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. march — music

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