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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. spring — of water
  6. bound — tied together
  7. clip — to cut
  8. spring — the season
  9. degree — temperature
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bound — obliged
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. bound — certain
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. degree — an amount
  22. clip — a video
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — to come from

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