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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. clip — a video
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. stem — to come from
  12. season — of the year
  13. present — a gift
  14. bear — the animal
  15. fork — in a road
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. clip — for paper
  21. present — the time now
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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