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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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468
Word bank
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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. tube — the underground
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. tube — a container
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. snap — to click
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. perch — the fish
  10. season — of the year
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. pitch — completely
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. kid — to tease
  17. stem — to come from
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. kid — child
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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