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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chair — a leader
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. track — a path
  9. track — a song
  10. hand — help
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. hand — in cards
  13. land — ground
  14. lie — to recline
  15. land — a country
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. kid — to tease
  18. land — to come down
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. squash — the sport
  21. stem — to come from
  22. kid — child
  23. squash — to crush
  24. stem — of a plant

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