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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 116 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: straw · shower · stem · board · wind · spring · bulb · rush

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stem — to come from
  3. spring — the season
  4. bulb — for light
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bulb — for light
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. board — a committee
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wind — moving air
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. spring — of water
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. spring — a coil
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. shower — rain
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. wind — to turn a key

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