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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: wake · pitcher · shower · game · object · wind · stem · spring

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. object — to protest
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. game — wild animals
  13. wake — a trail
  14. object — an aim
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — of water
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. game — a match
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wind — moving air
  23. shower — rain
  24. object — a thing

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