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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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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: stem · kid · net · season · field · dip · cap · shower

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. shower — rain
  3. field — for sport
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. net — after costs
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. kid — to tease
  8. field — farmland
  9. net — for catching
  10. season — of the year
  11. field — a subject
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cap — a hat
  14. season — in sport
  15. cap — a lid
  16. kid — child
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. shower — to wash
  21. dip — to sink
  22. cap — of ice
  23. net — in sport
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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