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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. net — after costs
  3. date — the fruit
  4. chest — of your body
  5. net — for catching
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. perch — the fish
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. clip — for paper
  21. net — in sport
  22. chest — a box
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. stem — of a plant

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