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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. prune — to trim
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. cell — in biology
  9. bore — to tire
  10. stem — to come from
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bore — to drill
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — a phone
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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