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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: stem · wind · march · wound · fall · pound · mate · chair

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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. chair — a leader
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mate — a partner
  8. pound — a weight
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — the season
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — to come from
  14. mate — a friend
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. mate — to breed
  19. march — music
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wind — moving air
  24. march — the month

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