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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. present — the time now
  3. pop — to visit
  4. cue — a hint
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stem — to come from
  7. pop — music
  8. present — there
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. pop — soda
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. present — a gift
  16. game — a match
  17. cue — a signal
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. kid — to tease
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cue — for pool

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