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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: spring · fine · shower · stem · file · prune · net · key

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. shower — rain
  3. spring — a coil
  4. shower — to wash
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. prune — to trim
  7. key — the most important part
  8. net — after costs
  9. stem — to come from
  10. fine — high quality
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. key — for a lock
  14. file — a tool
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. fine — all right
  19. net — in sport
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. net — for catching
  23. key — in music
  24. spring — the season

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