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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  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. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. content — happy
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pitch — completely
  13. land — a country
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. tube — a container
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. stem — to come from
  23. branch — a division
  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