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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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bulb — for light
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. spring — the season
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — for catching
  10. fall — the season
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. net — after costs
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fork — in a road
  17. clip — a video
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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