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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: file · cell · stem · land · leaves · wound · mouse · straw

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. land — ground
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. land — a country
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. wound — an injury
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. file — a document
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. land — to come down
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. stem — to come from
  20. file — a tool
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cell — in biology

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