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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. stem — to come from
  3. face — to confront
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. net — in sport
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. craft — a skill
  8. net — for catching
  9. clip — a video
  10. net — after costs
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. clip — for paper
  19. face — part of the head
  20. face — to point toward
  21. race — the arms race
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. clip — to cut

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