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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 · file · mouse · content · kid · scale · ground · perch

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. kid — child
  3. content — happy
  4. ground — the earth
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. file — a tool
  7. perch — the fish
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. ground — a position
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. file — a document
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. content — the amount
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. kid — to tease
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. file — a line of people
  23. mouse — for a computer
  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