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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. track — a path
  4. land — a country
  5. present — the time now
  6. last — finally
  7. track — a song
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. last — to go on
  10. track — to keep track
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. land — to come down
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. stem — to come from
  18. present — there
  19. kid — to tease
  20. land — ground
  21. present — a gift
  22. last — final
  23. row — to paddle
  24. fork — in a road

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