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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. stem — to come from
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a word
  11. press — a publisher
  12. chest — a box
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. press — newspapers
  20. bore — to tire
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. bore — to drill
  23. root — of a plant
  24. stem — of a plant

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