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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. kid — to tease
  3. lean — to bend
  4. tube — a container
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. swing — to play on
  7. present — there
  8. present — the time now
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. swing — in golf
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. swing — music
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. present — a gift
  16. hand — help
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. stem — to come from
  20. lean — thin
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. tube — the underground
  23. kid — child
  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