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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 116 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. clip — to cut
  3. club — a group
  4. clip — a video
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. race — humankind
  8. club — for golf
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. race — a contest
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. club — for dancing
  18. shower — to wash
  19. race — the arms race
  20. shower — rain
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. bay — a horse colour

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