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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: chair · straw · ground · sharp · rush · fan · stem · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — hurry
  5. chair — a leader
  6. ground — the earth
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. ground — a position
  18. stem — to come from
  19. sharp — clever
  20. ground — crushed
  21. spring — a coil
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spring — of water
  24. chair — to sit on

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