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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: stem · coach · kick · sharp · hand · spring · root · tear

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. coach — a trainer
  2. stem — to come from
  3. tear — from crying
  4. root — the cause
  5. root — of a word
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. root — of a plant
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. spring — the season
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — a coil
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. hand — part of the body
  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