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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. bat — the animal
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. stem — to come from
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. vault — a safe
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. branch — a division
  16. ball — a dance
  17. rest — a break
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. land — ground
  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