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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.

Words on the sheet
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: spring · root · pitcher · march · stem · straw · fan · land

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. march — music
  3. stem — to come from
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spring — the season
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. march — the month
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. land — a country
  14. march — the month
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. root — of a plant
  17. spring — of water
  18. root — of a word
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. land — ground
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. root — the cause
  24. pitcher — in 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