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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tube — a container
  3. drill — a practice
  4. sharp — clever
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — to bear
  11. kid — to tease
  12. land — ground
  13. drill — army training
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. drill — the tool
  16. tube — the underground
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. land — a country
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. land — to come down

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