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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 · wind · kid · nail · hand · club · wave · stem

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. club — for dancing
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. club — for golf
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stem — to come from
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bat — the animal
  14. club — a group
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. hand — help
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kid — child
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wind — moving air

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