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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  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. kid — child
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wound — an injury
  5. track — to keep track
  6. game — wild animals
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. pound — a weight
  15. track — a song
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. track — a path
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. game — a match
  23. snap — to click
  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