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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. stem — to come from
  2. pound — a weight
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. race — humankind
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. present — there
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. race — a contest
  11. present — the time now
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. present — a gift
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. kid — child
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. race — the arms race
  23. mine — for digging
  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