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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — the time now
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. clip — a video
  5. stem — to come from
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kid — child
  14. pound — a weight
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. bass — low music
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bass — the fish
  21. present — there
  22. clip — to cut
  23. fork — in a road
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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