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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: wake · perch · root · fork · spring · hand · stem · ground

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. spring — the season
  3. ground — a position
  4. root — the cause
  5. fork — in a road
  6. stem — to come from
  7. wake — a trail
  8. hand — help
  9. ground — crushed
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. perch — the fish
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. ground — the earth
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. root — of a word
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spring — a coil
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. spring — of water
  24. perch — for a bird

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