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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: cell · mine · kid · root · chest · date · bulb · row

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. row — a line
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. root — of a plant
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — in biology
  10. chest — of your body
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. chest — a box
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. root — of a word
  16. kid — child
  17. cell — a phone
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. kid — to tease
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. root — the cause
  24. row — to paddle

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