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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: fork · shower · cell · row · lean · fall · saw · spring

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — to paddle
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. spring — of water
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. fork — in a road
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. fall — to drop
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. spring — the season
  18. lean — thin
  19. row — a line
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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