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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. kid — child
  3. fall — to drop
  4. clip — a video
  5. fall — the season
  6. pop — music
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. pop — to visit
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mark — a grade
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. fall — to drop
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mark — a trace
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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