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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 120 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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. stem — to come from
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. spell — a short time
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. key — in music
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spell — letters
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. dip — to sink
  14. spell — magic
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. chest — of your body
  17. key — the most important part
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. key — for a lock
  20. kid — to tease
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. wax — to grow
  24. dip — a sauce

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