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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: rush · shower · stem · kick · chest · net · leaves · mate

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mate — a friend
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kick — in football
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. stem — to come from
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. shower — to wash
  13. mate — a partner
  14. shower — rain
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. net — for catching
  21. mate — to breed
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rush — hurry
  24. leaves — to go away

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