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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 120 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: row · court · kid · spell · stem · drill · bank · file

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. row — a line
  4. drill — army training
  5. file — a line of people
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spell — magic
  8. court — of a king
  9. bank — for money
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. court — of law
  12. row — to paddle
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bank — for money
  16. spell — letters
  17. court — for sport
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bank — of a river
  20. stem — to come from
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. drill — the tool
  24. kid — child

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