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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 120 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: stem · cell · wind · temple · ground · present · prune · hand

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. wind — moving air
  4. present — the time now
  5. stem — to come from
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ground — a position
  9. prune — to trim
  10. hand — help
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cell — in biology
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. cell — a phone
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. present — a gift
  23. hand — in cards
  24. present — there

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