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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. court — of law
  3. last — final
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. court — of a king
  6. last — to go on
  7. race — humankind
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. bark — to shout
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. court — for sport
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. clip — for paper
  16. race — a contest
  17. last — finally
  18. race — the arms race
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. clip — to cut
  21. deal — to handle
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. clip — a video

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