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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: coach · cold · stem · straw · shower · spell · pit · lash

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. spell — magic
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. spell — letters
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pit — in a race
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. shower — rain
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pit — a hole
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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