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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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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: snap · spring · stem · wound · ground · wave · rest · tear

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. ground — a position
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. rest — what's left
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. spring — the season
  10. rest — what's left
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wound — an injury
  14. ground — crushed
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stem — to come from
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. spring — of water
  20. rest — a break
  21. ground — the earth
  22. snap — to click
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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