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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rash — hasty
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. key — in music
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. kid — child
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. chest — a box
  13. stem — to come from
  14. rash — a series
  15. key — for a lock
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ball — a great time
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. chest — of your body
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. key — the most important part
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. ball — a dance

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