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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: pass · clip · suit · shower · drill · ground · stem · kick

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. suit — clothes
  4. kick — in football
  5. suit — in cards
  6. drill — the tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. shower — rain
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pass — a permit
  13. ground — a position
  14. drill — army training
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. drill — a practice
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. ground — the earth
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. suit — to fit
  24. shower — to wash

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