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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. net — in sport
  3. kid — to tease
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. tube — a container
  6. spring — the season
  7. net — for catching
  8. stem — to come from
  9. prune — to trim
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. prune — to trim
  15. net — after costs
  16. spring — a coil
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. spring — of water
  19. tube — the underground
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. kid — child

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