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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. can — a tin
  3. content — happy
  4. can — to be able to
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — to cut
  8. land — a country
  9. swing — to play on
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bound — obliged
  13. clip — a video
  14. bound — certain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. content — the amount
  18. bound — tied together
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. stem — to come from
  21. can — a tin
  22. swing — music
  23. land — ground
  24. land — to come down

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