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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: tear · chest · row · stem · pitch · wind

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — to paddle
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. stem — to come from
  7. chest — a box
  8. tear — to rip
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pitch — completely
  15. tear — from crying
  16. row — a line
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body

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