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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 · saw · bass · kick · fall · stand · kid · shower

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. saw — the tool
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. kick — in football
  8. bass — the fish
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. saw — the tool
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bass — low music
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. shower — rain
  17. stand — to bear
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. fall — the season
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. stem — to come from
  23. fall — to drop
  24. stand — on your feet

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