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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 120 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. can — a tin
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. stem — to come from
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bat — the animal
  8. can — a tin
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mate — to breed
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. mate — a friend
  19. cold — an illness
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. can — to be able to
  24. pitcher — a jug

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