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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. cap — a lid
  3. key — the most important part
  4. saw — the tool
  5. key — for a lock
  6. clip — a video
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cap — of ice
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cap — a hat
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. game — wild animals
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. key — in music
  17. stem — to come from
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. cold — an illness
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cold — not warm
  24. clip — to cut

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