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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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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: wound · row · tear · stem · present · sharp · leaves · chest

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. wound — an injury
  3. sharp — clever
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. tear — to rip
  6. row — a line
  7. tear — from crying
  8. present — a gift
  9. tear — from crying
  10. present — the time now
  11. chest — a box
  12. wound — an injury
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. present — there
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. stem — to come from
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. row — to paddle
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. leaves — to go away

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