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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bore — to drill
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. bore — to tire
  11. last — to go on
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. last — final
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. last — finally
  17. capital — a city
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. capital — money
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. stem — a stem cell

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