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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: wind · shower · stem · coach · dip · chest · pop · lean

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — to visit
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. chest — of your body
  9. dip — to sink
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wind — moving air
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. stem — to come from
  15. lean — to bend
  16. shower — to wash
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. pop — music
  19. lean — thin
  20. chest — a box
  21. shower — rain
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — a sauce

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