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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 120 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. drill — the tool
  3. cap — a lid
  4. snap — to click
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. net — for catching
  12. fall — to drop
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fall — the season
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cap — of ice
  18. fall — to drop
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. net — in sport
  21. drill — army training
  22. hand — help
  23. net — after costs
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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