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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: race · stem · bat · clip · kid · deal · face · bear

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. race — humankind
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. face — part of the head
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. stem — to come from
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bat — the animal
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bear — the animal
  15. race — a contest
  16. clip — a video
  17. kid — child
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. race — the arms race
  20. face — to confront
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bat — for baseball

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