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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. bound — certain
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. tube — a container
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. stem — to come from
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rest — a break
  11. kid — child
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rest — what's left
  14. kid — to tease
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. bound — tied together
  17. row — a line
  18. bound — obliged
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — to paddle
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rest — what's left
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. tube — in a tire

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