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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. date — the fruit
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — employees
  9. press — newspapers
  10. clip — to cut
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. stem — to come from
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — to push
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — to grow
  21. clip — a video
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. row — to paddle
  24. staff — a stick

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