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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. board — to get on
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. stem — to come from
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. content — happy
  9. shower — rain
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. kid — to tease
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. board — a committee

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