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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. mate — a friend
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spring — the season
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. kid — child
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bat — the animal
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. spring — of water
  15. pop — music
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. mate — a partner
  19. pop — soda
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pop — to visit
  22. content — happy
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. stem — to come from

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