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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. field — farmland
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. shower — rain
  7. field — a subject
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stem — to come from
  10. key — the most important part
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. drill — the tool
  13. kid — to tease
  14. key — for a lock
  15. march — the month
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — to wash
  18. key — in music
  19. field — for sport
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. kid — child
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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