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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: lie · saw · stem · object · ground · spring · hand · racket

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. stem — to come from
  5. spring — of water
  6. object — a thing
  7. spring — a coil
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. lie — to recline
  10. spring — the season
  11. object — an aim
  12. ground — a position
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. saw — the tool
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. saw — the tool
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. ground — the earth
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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