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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 116 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: stand · stem · shower · nail · hand · kid · snap · row

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. shower — rain
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stand — to bear
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. hand — in cards
  9. kid — child
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. row — a line
  12. shower — to wash
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. stem — to come from
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. kid — to tease
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. hand — help
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. row — to paddle

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