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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. track — to keep track
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — a container
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. track — a path
  8. shower — to wash
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. track — a song
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bore — to tire
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. stem — to come from
  18. shower — rain
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. kid — to tease
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. kid — child

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