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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 116 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: lie · stem · spring · bat · wind · sharp · swing · row

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. swing — in golf
  3. bat — the animal
  4. lie — to recline
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wind — moving air
  7. row — to paddle
  8. swing — music
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spring — the season
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. row — a line
  20. sharp — clever
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. swing — to play on
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. wind — to turn a key

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