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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. sharp — clever
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. scale — in music
  9. land — a country
  10. bore — to tire
  11. rock — a stone
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. chest — a box
  14. land — ground
  15. scale — size or range
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bore — to drill
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chest — of your body
  23. land — to come down
  24. sharp — exactly

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