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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. current — of water
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pitch — completely
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. stem — to come from
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. current — happening now
  15. bat — the animal
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. current — electric
  19. mine — for digging
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. branch — a division
  24. clip — a video

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