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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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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. mug — to rob
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. clip — for paper
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. stem — to come from
  8. last — finally
  9. present — the time now
  10. mug — a cup
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mug — a face
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. present — there
  15. last — to go on
  16. cell — in biology
  17. present — a gift
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — a video
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. clip — to cut

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