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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. stem — to come from
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. present — there
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. scale — in music
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. present — a gift
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. present — the time now
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. scale — size or range
  18. kid — child
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. straw — a straw man

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