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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cap — a lid
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cap — of ice
  5. kid — child
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. kid — to tease
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. swing — music
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. cold — an illness
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. fork — in a road
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stand — to bear
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. stem — to come from
  23. swing — to play on
  24. cap — a hat

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