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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. game — a match
  3. hand — in cards
  4. charge — in control
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cap — a hat
  11. hand — help
  12. fine — high quality
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. charge — a price
  15. stem — to come from
  16. game — wild animals
  17. kid — child
  18. cap — of ice
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. fine — all right
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stock — goods
  24. charge — electricity

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