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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: bear · stem · mark · bat · fork · kid · rash · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. kid — to tease
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — in a road
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kid — child
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mark — a grade
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — in golf
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bear — the animal
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rash — hasty

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