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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. content — the amount
  3. snap — to click
  4. ground — the earth
  5. craft — a skill
  6. craft — boats
  7. ground — crushed
  8. game — a match
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. content — happy
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. game — wild animals
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. ground — a position
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. kid — child
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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