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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: stem · spring · current · hand · straw · march · prune · sharp

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. current — electric
  4. sharp — clever
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. prune — to trim
  9. march — the month
  10. spring — of water
  11. hand — help
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. march — music
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. current — happening now
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. march — the month
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. hand — in cards
  24. current — of water

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