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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rush — hurry
  5. track — a song
  6. capital — a city
  7. clip — to cut
  8. stem — to come from
  9. track — a path
  10. current — happening now
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. season — of the year
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. current — electric
  17. chest — a box
  18. clip — a video
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. current — of water
  23. capital — money
  24. track — to keep track

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