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

Word bank: chest · patient · kid · hide · cap · stem

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — a lid
  7. chest — a box
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. chest — of your body
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — child
  15. stem — to come from
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cap — a hat

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