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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. row — a line
  3. foot — a measure
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fall — to drop
  6. root — of a plant
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. root — of a word
  9. net — in sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. clip — a video
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. root — the cause
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. stem — to come from
  20. clip — to cut
  21. net — after costs
  22. row — to paddle
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. net — for catching

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