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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: plane · mouse · stem · root · wind · band · chest · row

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. band — a ring
  3. chest — a box
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. wind — moving air
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. chest — of your body
  8. root — the cause
  9. row — a line
  10. band — a music group
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stem — to come from
  13. root — of a plant
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. row — to paddle
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. plane — a tool
  24. row — a quarrel

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