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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: stem · spell · wake · pit · fall · clip · mine · row

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. row — a line
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. clip — a video
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. spell — magic
  7. fall — to drop
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. fall — the season
  14. pit — a hole
  15. stem — to come from
  16. mine — for digging
  17. spell — a short time
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. pit — in a race
  22. wake — a trail
  23. spell — letters
  24. row — to paddle

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