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

Word bank: cell · wind · stem · last · row · court

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. wind — moving air
  4. last — to go on
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. court — for sport
  7. wind — moving air
  8. court — of law
  9. court — of a king
  10. row — to paddle
  11. last — finally
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. last — final
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. row — a line
  18. cell — in biology

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