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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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Word bank
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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: wind · wound · sharp · rush · perch · track · land · stem

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. stem — to come from
  3. perch — the fish
  4. land — a country
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. wound — an injury
  7. land — ground
  8. track — a path
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wind — moving air
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. land — to come down
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. track — a song
  18. rush — hurry
  19. track — to keep track
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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