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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: row · hand · mark · spring · stem · club · wind · pitcher

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. row — to paddle
  3. row — a line
  4. club — a group
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. mark — a grade
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. club — for dancing
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. stem — to come from
  16. spring — the season
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. hand — in cards
  19. club — for golf
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. mark — a trace

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