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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rush — hurry
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. stem — to come from
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. clip — a video
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — a series
  21. kick — in football
  22. wax — to grow
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. straw — a straw man

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