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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bear — the animal
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. clip — a video
  8. bound — certain
  9. suit — in cards
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — a short time
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bound — obliged
  18. dip — to sink
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. bound — tied together
  21. suit — clothes
  22. clip — for paper
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. spell — magic

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