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

Word bank: row · press · kid · pound · board · stem

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. board — to get on
  3. pound — a weight
  4. board — a committee
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. press — a publisher
  7. row — a line
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. row — to paddle
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. press — to push
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — child
  18. press — newspapers

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