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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
468
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: content · game · ball · bat · fall · root · file · stem

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. content — the amount
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ball — a great time
  5. game — wild animals
  6. root — the cause
  7. root — of a plant
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. content — happy
  11. root — of a word
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. file — a document
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. ball — a dance
  19. fall — the season
  20. stem — to come from
  21. game — a match
  22. fall — to drop
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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