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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. row — to paddle
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. row — a line
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hand — help
  8. bulb — for light
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bulb — for light
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. lean — to bend
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. lean — thin
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. kid — child

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