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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: fan · rash · game · rest · stem · row · wound · spring

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  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. rash — on the skin
  2. game — wild animals
  3. row — to paddle
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. spring — the season
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rest — what's left
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. rash — a series
  15. stem — to come from
  16. game — a match
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — a line
  22. rest — a break
  23. rash — hasty
  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