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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. stem — to come from
  3. cue — a hint
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cue — a signal
  9. bass — low music
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bass — the fish
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cue — for pool
  18. drill — the tool
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. drill — army training
  23. kid — child
  24. bat — the animal

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