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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. kid — child
  3. tube — the underground
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. cell — a phone
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. sharp — clever
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. cell — in biology
  15. tube — a container
  16. kid — to tease
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. stem — to come from
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. nail — for a hammer

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