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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 · wind · dip · swing · stem · land · drill · row

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. swing — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — to come down
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — to sink
  10. swing — in golf
  11. land — a country
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. drill — the tool
  18. land — ground
  19. cell — in biology
  20. row — a line
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. swing — to play on

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