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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cue — a signal
  4. wind — moving air
  5. root — of a word
  6. cue — for pool
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. root — the cause
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cue — a hint
  13. stem — to come from
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. wind — moving air
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. hand — help
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. root — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. trunk — of a tree

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