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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: shower · stem · spring · press · row · prune · land · mug

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mug — a cup
  4. land — a country
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. row — to paddle
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. press — newspapers
  10. land — to come down
  11. prune — to trim
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. land — ground
  15. press — to push
  16. mug — to rob
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. row — a line
  22. prune — to trim
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. press — a publisher

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