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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: season · kid · hand · craft · stem · race · rest · cabinet

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. race — humankind
  3. stem — to come from
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — in sport
  6. kid — child
  7. craft — boats
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. rest — a break
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. rest — what's left
  13. race — a contest
  14. hand — in cards
  15. craft — a skill
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. race — the arms race
  19. rest — what's left
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. kid — to tease

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