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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — for paper
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. prune — to trim
  7. clip — to cut
  8. key — the most important part
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. clip — a video
  11. shower — rain
  12. stem — to come from
  13. fine — all right
  14. track — a song
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. key — in music
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. track — to keep track
  19. key — for a lock
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. fine — high quality
  24. track — a path

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