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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: staff · bound · rush · fall · stem · tear · spring · tube

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. staff — employees
  3. bound — certain
  4. staff — a stick
  5. spring — the season
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. spring — a coil
  10. fall — to drop
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bound — obliged
  18. staff — employees
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bound — tied together
  21. tube — the underground
  22. tube — a container
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. spring — of water

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