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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. clip — for paper
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. track — a song
  5. ground — the earth
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. ground — crushed
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. clip — a video
  11. ground — a position
  12. stem — to come from
  13. branch — a division
  14. track — a path
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. clip — to cut
  18. straw — dry grass

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