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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — an illness
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. kid — child
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. hand — help
  8. bass — low music
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. stem — to come from
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rock — a stone
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. tube — the underground
  20. rock — music
  21. tube — a container
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bass — the fish
  24. kid — to tease

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