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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. saw — the tool
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. saw — the tool
  6. drill — a practice
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. drill — the tool
  11. band — a music group
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. bark — to shout
  18. band — a ring
  19. drill — army training
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. clip — to cut
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. clip — for paper

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