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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: clip · lean · staff · stem · mate · fall · wind · tube

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mate — a partner
  6. fall — the season
  7. mate — a friend
  8. staff — a stick
  9. lean — thin
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. clip — for paper
  12. staff — employees
  13. tube — the underground
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. stem — to come from
  17. staff — employees
  18. clip — a video
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. tube — a container
  24. lean — to bend

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