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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. ground — the earth
  7. kid — to tease
  8. scale — in music
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. mine — for digging
  11. saw — the tool
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. scale — size or range
  15. saw — the tool
  16. ground — crushed
  17. dip — to sink
  18. stem — to come from
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. kid — child
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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