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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: stem · land · roll · fall · ground · tear · shower · drill

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. roll — a cake
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. shower — rain
  6. land — ground
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. fall — to drop
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. shower — to wash
  11. land — to come down
  12. drill — the tool
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. fall — to drop
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — a practice
  18. tear — from crying
  19. land — a country
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. tear — to rip
  22. fall — the season
  23. roll — a list
  24. tear — from crying

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