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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: spring · cell · stem · mug · wake · ground · sharp · row

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. ground — the earth
  3. stem — to come from
  4. ground — crushed
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. ground — a position
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mug — to rob
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. mug — a face
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. wake — a trail
  20. mug — a cup
  21. sharp — clever
  22. spring — the season
  23. row — to paddle
  24. cell — in biology

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