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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. row — a line
  3. kid — to tease
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. row — to paddle
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wound — an injury
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. ground — the earth
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. ground — a position
  19. prune — to trim
  20. deal — to handle
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. kid — child
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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