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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. tube — the underground
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. tube — a container
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spring — the season
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. chest — a box
  9. spring — a coil
  10. chest — of your body
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. plane — a tool
  14. stem — to come from
  15. kid — child
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. scale — size or range
  20. spring — of water
  21. scale — in music
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. pitch — completely
  24. chest — of your body

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