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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. kid — child
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. cell — in biology
  9. stem — to come from
  10. capital — a city
  11. bat — the animal
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — money
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — the tool
  24. chair — a leader

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