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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: temple · fall · ground · stem · wind · cap · branch · row

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — of ice
  6. stem — to come from
  7. fall — the season
  8. branch — a division
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. row — a line
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. ground — crushed
  15. fall — to drop
  16. ground — a position
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. ground — the earth
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. row — to paddle
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cap — a hat

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