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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. drill — a practice
  6. present — there
  7. present — the time now
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. present — a gift
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wake — a trail
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. wind — moving air
  17. snap — to click
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. hand — help
  24. stem — a stem cell

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