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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. squash — the sport
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. fall — to drop
  7. stand — to bear
  8. squash — to crush
  9. mark — a trace
  10. kid — to tease
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. kid — child
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. mark — a grade
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — the animal
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. fall — the season

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