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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: kid · patient · band · degree · stem · stock · drill · snap

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. drill — army training
  2. snap — to click
  3. degree — temperature
  4. stock — shares
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. kid — to tease
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. stem — to come from
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. band — a music group
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. kid — child
  16. stock — goods
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. band — a ring
  20. drill — a practice
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. drill — the tool
  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