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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: bat · stem · patient · kid · cap · race · toast · ball

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. kid — child
  4. cap — a hat
  5. race — humankind
  6. bat — the animal
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. race — a contest
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cap — a lid
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. toast — bread
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cap — of ice
  19. ball — a dance
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. race — the arms race
  22. ball — a great time
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. stem — to come from

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