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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. row — a line
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. bass — the fish
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bass — low music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. branch — a division
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mug — a cup
  17. row — to paddle
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. mug — to rob
  24. mug — a face

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