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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. rash — hasty
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stem — to come from
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — to visit
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. chair — a leader
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. clip — a video
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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