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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: staff · spring · squash · stem · cold · tear · club · cabinet

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — the sport
  6. club — for golf
  7. squash — to crush
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. club — for dancing
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. club — a group
  17. tear — from crying
  18. staff — employees
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. stem — of a plant

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