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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 116 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. file — a tool
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. clip — for paper
  5. last — finally
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. game — a match
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. pass — a permit
  15. clip — to cut
  16. file — a document
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. clip — a video
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — final
  21. plane — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. pass — to spend time

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