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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. track — a song
  3. branch — a division
  4. kid — to tease
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. track — to keep track
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. row — a line
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. stem — to come from
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. deal — to handle
  14. track — a path
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. press — to push
  17. ball — a great time
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. ball — a dance
  20. press — newspapers
  21. row — to paddle
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. press — a publisher
  24. deal — an agreement

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