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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. hand — in cards
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bank — for money
  5. hand — help
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. kid — child
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. wound — an injury
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bank — of a river
  20. kid — to tease
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. bank — for money
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — a stem cell

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