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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. pass — a permit
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. kid — to tease
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. kid — child
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. game — a match
  14. stem — to come from
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. game — wild animals
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. file — a document
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. ball — a great time

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