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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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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: rock · stem · rule · fall · object · row · mine · cold

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — not warm
  10. object — a thing
  11. stem — to come from
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rock — music
  15. object — an aim
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. fall — the season
  20. rule — a law
  21. rule — government
  22. rock — a stone
  23. object — to protest
  24. cold — an illness

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