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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pit — in a race
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. roll — a list
  10. bulb — for light
  11. roll — a cake
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pit — a hole
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. shower — to wash
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. saw — the tool
  24. shower — rain

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