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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 116 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: content · stem · lie · kid · cold · scale

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. kid — child
  3. stem — to come from
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — in music
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. lie — to recline

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