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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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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  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. scale — size or range
  2. kid — to tease
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. craft — boats
  6. cue — for pool
  7. scale — in music
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. kid — child
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. tube — the underground
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. tube — a container
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. craft — a skill
  23. nail — on a finger
  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