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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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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: wound · toast · stem · fall · lean · spring · game · tear

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. wound — an injury
  9. game — wild animals
  10. tear — to rip
  11. game — a match
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stem — to come from
  14. fall — the season
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. spring — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fall — to drop
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. toast — bread
  24. spring — a coil

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