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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 120 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. stem — to come from
  3. kid — child
  4. swing — in golf
  5. pop — to visit
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. race — a contest
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. race — humankind
  10. tube — the underground
  11. swing — music
  12. race — the arms race
  13. pop — soda
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. pop — music
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. wax — to grow
  23. tube — a container
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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