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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: hand · fall · stem · lean · wake · wind · roll · present

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. fall — to drop
  5. present — there
  6. roll — a list
  7. fall — the season
  8. wake — a trail
  9. present — the time now
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wind — moving air
  12. lean — thin
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. hand — in cards
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. present — a gift
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. lean — to bend
  24. roll — a cake

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