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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. lie — to recline
  5. rule — a law
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. clip — a video
  8. cell — in biology
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. clip — to cut
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. cell — a phone
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a ring
  16. wind — moving air
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — for paper
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. rule — government
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. drill — army training

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