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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: rash · land · bore · stem · wind · ground · spring · board

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wind — moving air
  3. board — a committee
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bore — to tire
  6. land — ground
  7. stem — to come from
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — hasty
  13. land — to come down
  14. ground — crushed
  15. spring — the season
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. spring — of water
  19. ground — a position
  20. land — a country
  21. ground — the earth
  22. board — to get on
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bore — to drill

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