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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: straw · mine · snap · cell · row · squash · stem · race

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. cell — a phone
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. squash — the sport
  6. race — the arms race
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cell — in biology
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. row — a line
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. squash — to crush
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. race — a contest
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. race — humankind
  24. snap — to click

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