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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: rock · stem · club · snap · spring · fork · row · bore

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. spring — of water
  8. bore — to tire
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. rock — a stone
  11. snap — to click
  12. row — to paddle
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bore — to drill
  15. fork — in a road
  16. club — for dancing
  17. spring — a coil
  18. row — a line
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. club — a group
  22. spring — the season
  23. stem — to come from
  24. club — for golf

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