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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: hand · saw · row · roll · cell · ground · stem · bear

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. ground — a position
  4. roll — a cake
  5. ground — the earth
  6. stem — to come from
  7. saw — the tool
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cell — a phone
  10. hand — help
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bear — the animal
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. hand — in cards
  15. ground — crushed
  16. saw — the tool
  17. row — a line
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. row — to paddle
  22. roll — a list
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bear — the animal

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