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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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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: wind · stem · perch · fine · rule · race

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rule — government
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. race — humankind
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. perch — the fish
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. fine — high quality
  11. race — a contest
  12. fine — all right
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. stem — to come from
  18. rule — a law

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