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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. track — a song
  4. clip — a video
  5. track — a path
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — finally
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. track — to keep track
  13. current — happening now
  14. last — final
  15. wind — moving air
  16. current — electric
  17. clip — to cut
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. current — of water
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. wind — moving air
  22. stem — to come from
  23. clip — for paper
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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