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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bound — certain
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. bound — obliged
  7. wake — a trail
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. bound — tied together
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. band — a ring
  14. clip — a video
  15. stem — to come from
  16. object — a thing
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. object — an aim
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cell — a phone
  22. object — to protest
  23. cell — in biology
  24. band — a music group

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