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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. bass — the fish
  3. kid — to tease
  4. squash — to crush
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. stem — to come from
  7. land — a country
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. kid — child
  11. band — a ring
  12. squash — the sport
  13. perch — the fish
  14. land — to come down
  15. bass — low music
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. pitch — completely
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. land — ground
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bass — the instrument

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