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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: hand · scale · stem · pit · kid · field · toast · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. field — a subject
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. club — a group
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. pit — a hole
  11. scale — size or range
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. hand — help
  14. toast — bread
  15. hand — in cards
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. field — farmland
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. club — for golf
  21. field — for sport
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. hand — part of the body

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