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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · chip · stem · root · face · wound

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. chip — to eat
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. root — of a word
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chip — for betting
  10. root — of a plant
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. face — to confront
  13. root — the cause
  14. face — part of the head
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. stem — to come from
  17. wound — an injury
  18. stem — a stem cell

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