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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: saw · last · net · stem · wound · clip · bore · kid

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. net — for catching
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. last — to go on
  6. clip — for paper
  7. last — final
  8. stem — to come from
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. wound — an injury
  13. net — in sport
  14. bore — to tire
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bore — to drill
  17. clip — to cut
  18. last — finally
  19. wound — an injury
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. net — after costs
  23. clip — a video
  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