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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: roll · wind · date · field · cell · stem · root · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. root — the cause
  4. field — for sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. shower — rain
  8. root — of a plant
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — to come from
  17. root — of a word
  18. roll — a list
  19. roll — a cake
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cell — in biology
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. date — on the calendar

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