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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. stem — to come from
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kid — child
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. perch — the fish
  12. kid — to tease
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stem — of a plant

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