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

Word bank: stem · drill · patient · cell · rule · shower · content · race

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. race — humankind
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cell — in biology
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. stem — to come from
  10. content — happy
  11. content — the amount
  12. rule — government
  13. shower — to wash
  14. drill — army training
  15. rule — a law
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. drill — the tool
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. shower — rain

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