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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: drill · chair · stem · tear · pop · cold · tube · craft

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. cold — an illness
  4. drill — a practice
  5. tear — to rip
  6. drill — army training
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pop — to visit
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stem — to come from
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — a leader
  17. drill — the tool
  18. tube — the underground
  19. pop — soda
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. craft — a skill
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. tube — a container

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