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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. land — ground
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. mate — a partner
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mate — a friend
  11. cap — a hat
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. land — a country
  14. mate — to breed
  15. land — to come down
  16. kid — child
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cap — a lid
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cap — of ice

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