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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.

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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — a stone
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — child
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. march — music
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. kick — in football
  15. march — the month
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. kid — to tease
  18. rest — what's left
  19. march — the month
  20. rest — a break
  21. sharp — clever
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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