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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. hide — to keep secret
  2. capital — a city
  3. firm — decided
  4. mine — for digging
  5. firm — steady
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — money
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — to come from
  14. track — to keep track
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. track — a path
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. firm — a company
  21. track — a song
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. clip — for paper
  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