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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · rule · chest · racket · tear · kid

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. kid — child
  3. chest — a box
  4. kid — to tease
  5. tear — from crying
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. stem — to come from
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. rule — a law
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. chest — of your body
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chest — of your body
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rule — government

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