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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. wind — moving air
  3. tube — a container
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chip — for betting
  15. date — the fruit
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. fork — in a road
  21. chip — to eat
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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