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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. degree — from a university
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. shower — rain
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. drill — army training
  11. stem — to come from
  12. stock — shares
  13. degree — an amount
  14. stock — goods
  15. degree — temperature
  16. lean — thin
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — child
  19. drill — the tool
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. kid — to tease
  23. lean — to bend
  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