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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: straw · roll · pop · tube · stem · present · board · ground

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. roll — a cake
  3. board — a committee
  4. pop — to visit
  5. board — to get on
  6. present — a gift
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. tube — a container
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. tube — the underground
  14. present — the time now
  15. stem — to come from
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pop — music
  19. ground — a position
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. pop — soda
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — on a roll

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