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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 · wake · snap · band · date · stem · mouse · pop

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. spring — the season
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. spring — of water
  11. pop — music
  12. band — a ring
  13. stem — to come from
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. pop — to visit
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to click
  18. wake — a trail
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. pop — soda
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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