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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: shower · race · safe · scale · content · cold · stem · drill

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. shower — to wash
  4. scale — in music
  5. content — happy
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. drill — army training
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. cold — an illness
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. content — the amount
  17. drill — a practice
  18. scale — size or range
  19. cold — not warm
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. shower — rain
  24. race — humankind

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