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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: drill · cell · snap · mouse · stem · tear · track · ground

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. snap — to click
  3. drill — a practice
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. stem — to come from
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a song
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ground — crushed
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. cell — a phone
  12. ground — the earth
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ground — a position
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. cell — in biology
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. track — a path
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — in a prison

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