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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 116 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tube — the underground
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. mug — a face
  7. content — the amount
  8. root — the cause
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. content — happy
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. root — of a plant
  13. mug — to rob
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. scale — in music
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cap — of ice
  19. mug — a cup
  20. root — of a word
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. kid — child
  24. tube — a container

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