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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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468
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: rush · wind · bear · rash · bat · club · stem · hide

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. club — a group
  3. rash — a series
  4. club — for golf
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bear — the animal
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — the animal
  20. club — for dancing
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bat — for baseball

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