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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. spell — letters
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. charge — in control
  12. clip — a video
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. spell — a short time
  15. clip — for paper
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. spell — magic
  18. clip — to cut
  19. last — final
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. charge — a price
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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