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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. net — in sport
  4. stem — to come from
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. net — after costs
  12. clip — a video
  13. root — the cause
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bark — to shout
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. root — of a plant
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. net — for catching
  21. root — of a word
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bass — low music

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