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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. prune — to trim
  3. clip — to cut
  4. vault — a safe
  5. mate — a partner
  6. clip — a video
  7. mate — to breed
  8. band — a music group
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. cap — a hat
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. clip — for paper
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cap — of ice
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. stem — to come from
  23. prune — to trim
  24. land — a country

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