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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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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: field · cell · root · row · clip · mate · saw · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. root — the cause
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. saw — the tool
  10. field — a subject
  11. root — of a word
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. row — to paddle
  15. clip — a video
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mate — to breed
  18. row — a line
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mate — a partner
  22. fall — the season
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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