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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. last — final
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cap — a hat
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. degree — from a university
  8. last — to go on
  9. clip — for paper
  10. degree — an amount
  11. band — a ring
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cap — of ice
  20. last — finally
  21. stem — to come from
  22. clip — a video
  23. cap — a lid
  24. arm — a part of something

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