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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. capital — money
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mate — a partner
  6. clip — to cut
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. capital — a city
  9. wind — moving air
  10. clip — a video
  11. ball — a dance
  12. mate — to breed
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. date — the fruit
  16. ball — a great time
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. deal — to handle
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. wind — moving air
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. mate — a friend

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