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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 · wind · court · pitch · drill · snap · season · bore

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. stem — to come from
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. snap — to click
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — a practice
  11. pitch — completely
  12. season — in sport
  13. court — of law
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. wind — moving air
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. drill — the tool
  21. season — of the year
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bore — to drill
  24. stem — a stem cell

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