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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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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: stem · kid · pound · stick · wind · spring

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. spring — a coil
  4. kid — child
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. wind — moving air
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pound — a weight
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. spring — the season
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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