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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: chest · bowl · bat · mouse · pass · kick · stem · land

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. land — ground
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. chest — a box
  11. land — a country
  12. bat — the animal
  13. kick — in football
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. land — to come down
  16. pass — a permit
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stem — a stem cell

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