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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. stem — to come from
  3. kid — child
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. fine — high quality
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. staff — employees
  8. net — in sport
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. net — after costs
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. fine — all right
  13. cold — not warm
  14. content — happy
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. content — the amount
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. staff — a stick
  23. staff — employees
  24. net — for catching

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