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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. clip — a video
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. season — in sport
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bound — certain
  7. season — of the year
  8. wound — an injury
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bound — obliged
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bound — tied together
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a leader
  18. clip — to cut
  19. game — a match
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. game — wild animals
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stem — of a plant

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