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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. clip — a video
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. clip — to cut
  6. prune — to trim
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. season — of the year
  10. spring — a coil
  11. track — a path
  12. spring — the season
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. hand — in cards
  15. last — finally
  16. season — in sport
  17. track — to keep track
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. prune — to trim
  21. hand — help
  22. clip — for paper
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. spring — of water

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