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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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Word bank
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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: pop · content · bear · kid · staff · coach · last · stem

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. last — final
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. last — finally
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. staff — a stick
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. pop — to visit
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bear — the animal
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. staff — employees
  16. content — the amount
  17. last — to go on
  18. staff — employees
  19. bear — the animal
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — music
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — child
  24. stem — of a plant

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