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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. kid — child
  4. tear — to rip
  5. rest — what's left
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. kid — to tease
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. spring — the season
  12. tear — from crying
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spring — of water
  15. tear — from crying
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rest — what's left
  20. spring — a coil
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pitch — completely
  23. stem — to come from
  24. rest — a break

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