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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. file — a tool
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. spring — of water
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. spring — a coil
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. file — a line of people
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. stem — to come from
  16. file — a document
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. kid — child
  22. lean — thin
  23. spring — the season
  24. lean — to bend

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