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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mine — for digging
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. charge — electricity
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. stem — to come from
  9. pop — to visit
  10. charge — in control
  11. pop — soda
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pop — music
  17. charge — a price
  18. clip — a video
  19. field — farmland
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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