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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mate — a partner
  4. clip — to cut
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. spell — a short time
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. clip — a video
  9. spell — letters
  10. face — part of the head
  11. ball — a dance
  12. capital — money
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. face — to point toward
  16. stock — shares
  17. capital — a city
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spell — magic
  20. mate — to breed
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. face — to confront
  23. mate — a friend
  24. stock — goods

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