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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stem — to come from
  3. march — music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. file — a tool
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. rock — a stone
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rock — music
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — of the year
  15. sharp — clever
  16. date — the fruit
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. file — a document
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. file — a line of people

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