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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. mine — for digging
  5. present — the time now
  6. present — there
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. stem — to come from
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. clip — a video
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. net — in sport
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. net — after costs
  18. clip — to cut
  19. net — for catching
  20. date — the fruit
  21. clip — for paper
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. degree — an amount
  24. board — a committee

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