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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. saw — the tool
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. row — a line
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. kid — to tease
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. cell — a phone
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. file — a line of people
  17. kid — child
  18. file — a document
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cell — in biology
  22. stem — to come from
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. file — a tool

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