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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 120 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: spring · clip · last · fan · shower · stem · leaves · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. last — final
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. last — to go on
  7. clip — for paper
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. clip — a video
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. shower — rain
  12. last — finally
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fall — to drop
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. spring — a coil
  17. stem — to come from
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. fall — the season
  24. clip — to cut

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