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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wind — moving air
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — a gift
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. present — there
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. shower — rain
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. nail — for a hammer

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