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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. kid — child
  3. stem — to come from
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spell — letters
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. fork — in a road
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cue — for pool
  12. kid — to tease
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cue — a signal
  17. capital — money
  18. roll — a cake
  19. tear — to rip
  20. capital — a city
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cue — a hint
  24. fork — a garden tool

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