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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. perch — the fish
  4. file — a document
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. sharp — clever
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. march — the month
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. race — a contest
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stem — to come from
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. race — the arms race
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. race — humankind
  24. perch — for a bird

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