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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. kid — to tease
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. cell — a phone
  9. mark — a grade
  10. file — a document
  11. stem — to come from
  12. mark — a trace
  13. file — a tool
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. scale — in music
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. kid — child
  20. file — a line of people
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. scale — size or range
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. shower — rain

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