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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: shower · lean · stem · row · rash · coach · march · land

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. march — the month
  3. row — a line
  4. stem — to come from
  5. rash — hasty
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. lean — thin
  8. row — to paddle
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. rash — a series
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. march — music
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. march — the month
  19. land — a country
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. shower — to wash
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. shower — rain

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