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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: kick · jam · stem · cap · tear · drill · present · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  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. wind — moving air
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. present — a gift
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. present — the time now
  8. tear — to rip
  9. drill — a practice
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stem — to come from
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. drill — the tool
  14. tear — from crying
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. cap — of ice
  18. wind — moving air
  19. drill — army training
  20. present — there
  21. cap — a hat
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cap — a lid
  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