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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. object — to protest
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. march — the month
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. stem — to come from
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. mark — a grade
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. deal — to handle
  17. clip — a video
  18. bear — the animal
  19. object — an aim
  20. bear — the animal
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mine — for digging
  23. object — a thing
  24. clip — for paper

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