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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. rest — a break
  5. kid — to tease
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stem — to come from
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. kid — child
  11. hand — help
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. perch — the fish
  17. rest — what's left
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. perch — for a bird

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