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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: cell · march · toast · nail · cold · rush · wind · stem

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stem — to come from
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. toast — bread
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. march — music
  11. cell — a phone
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. march — the month
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wind — moving air
  24. nail — for a hammer

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