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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. net — in sport
  3. present — a gift
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. branch — a division
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. stem — to come from
  10. clip — for paper
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bulb — for light
  15. present — the time now
  16. object — an aim
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — to protest
  19. clip — a video
  20. present — there
  21. file — a line of people
  22. net — after costs
  23. clip — to cut
  24. net — for catching

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