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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 120 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: swing · cue · sharp · tear · row · bowl · spring · stem

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cue — for pool
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. cue — a hint
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. row — to paddle
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spring — a coil
  15. tear — from crying
  16. swing — in golf
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. spring — the season
  19. swing — music
  20. row — a line
  21. swing — to play on
  22. stem — to come from
  23. tear — to rip
  24. cue — a signal

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