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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. clip — to cut
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. net — for catching
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. ground — a position
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. field — farmland
  13. ball — a dance
  14. stem — to come from
  15. clip — for paper
  16. net — after costs
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. net — in sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. ground — the earth
  21. wake — a trail
  22. clip — a video
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. field — for sport

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