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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. scale — in music
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. kid — child
  6. content — happy
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. content — the amount
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stem — to come from
  16. fork — in a road
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. snap — to click
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. scale — size or range

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