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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 · stem · shower · club · bat · wave · tube · fall

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. club — for golf
  3. fall — to drop
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. bat — the animal
  6. club — for dancing
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. shower — rain
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. tube — a container
  18. stem — to come from
  19. club — a group
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. drill — army training

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