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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.

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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stem — to come from
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cell — in biology
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cold — not warm

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