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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: perch · hand · chest · drill · kid · face · stem · bass

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stem — to come from
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. drill — a practice
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bass — low music
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bass — the fish
  14. drill — the tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. drill — army training
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to confront
  20. perch — the fish
  21. face — to point toward
  22. kid — child
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — help

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