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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — to paddle
  4. key — for a lock
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bass — low music
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. bass — the fish
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stem — to come from
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. key — the most important part
  15. row — a line
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. key — in music
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. cold — not warm
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to click

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