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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've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — for betting
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. stem — to come from
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. kid — child
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. scale — in music
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lean — to bend
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — a container
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. lean — thin
  24. stem — a stem cell

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