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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 · bark · stem · rest · lean · leaves · shower · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rest — what's left
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. spring — a coil
  6. shower — rain
  7. spring — the season
  8. lean — to bend
  9. prune — to trim
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. spring — of water
  12. stem — to come from
  13. rest — a break
  14. bark — to shout
  15. lean — thin
  16. shower — to wash
  17. rest — what's left
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. stem — of a plant

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