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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've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pop — music
  4. net — in sport
  5. stem — to come from
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. clip — a video
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — letters
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. clip — for paper
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. net — for catching
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — magic
  21. pop — to visit
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. net — after costs
  24. pop — soda

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