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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. pop — music
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cap — a hat
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bank — of a river
  8. rash — a series
  9. pop — to visit
  10. file — a document
  11. stem — to come from
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. pop — soda
  14. bank — for money
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — child
  18. rash — hasty
  19. bank — for money
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. cap — a lid
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. cap — of ice

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