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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: scale · wound · shower · mark · last · content · kid · stem

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. scale — size or range
  5. shower — to wash
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. stem — to come from
  10. scale — in music
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. last — finally
  14. shower — rain
  15. kid — child
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. last — to go on
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — a grade
  21. wound — an injury
  22. content — the amount
  23. kid — to tease
  24. last — final

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