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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: chest · fall · wind · saw · land · hand · mouse · stem

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. chest — a box
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. fall — to drop
  7. saw — the tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — a country
  10. stem — to come from
  11. land — to come down
  12. saw — the tool
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hand — help
  18. chest — of your body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. land — ground
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. wind — to turn a key

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