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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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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: row · spring · kick · wind · stem · prune · hide · kid

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spring — a coil
  3. stem — to come from
  4. prune — to trim
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. spring — the season
  11. kid — to tease
  12. row — a line
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. spring — of water
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. kid — child
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. row — to paddle

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