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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. spring — of water
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. roll — a list
  5. tube — the underground
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. craft — a skill
  9. chest — a box
  10. stem — to come from
  11. spring — a coil
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. craft — boats
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. roll — a cake
  17. tube — a container
  18. pit — in a race
  19. kid — child
  20. spring — the season
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. pit — a hole

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