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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.

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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: spring · wake · snap · band · date · stem

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. spring — of water
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. spring — a coil
  5. band — a ring
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. date — the fruit
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wake — a trail
  12. spring — the season
  13. snap — to click
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. date — on the calendar

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