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

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. hand — help
  2. rash — a series
  3. game — wild animals
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. season — of the year
  6. track — a song
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. track — a path
  9. game — a match
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. hand — in cards
  12. drill — a practice
  13. track — to keep track
  14. drill — army training
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. stem — to come from
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. rash — hasty
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. season — in sport
  22. drill — the tool
  23. hand — part of the body
  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