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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — a video
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — for paper
  8. row — a line
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. last — to go on
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — a tin
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stem — to come from
  15. present — there
  16. present — a gift
  17. last — final
  18. last — finally
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. clip — to cut
  22. row — to paddle
  23. can — to be able to
  24. row — a quarrel

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