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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. kid — child
  8. snap — to click
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. mine — for digging
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass

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