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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: spring · shower · tear · track · arm · squash · stem · bass

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stem — to come from
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. spring — a coil
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. track — a path
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spring — the season
  11. track — a song
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. track — to keep track
  15. tear — to rip
  16. spring — of water
  17. bass — low music
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. shower — to wash
  22. squash — to crush
  23. shower — rain
  24. bass — the fish

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