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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. net — in sport
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. chest — a box
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — to cut
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. chest — of your body
  23. clip — a video
  24. rush — hurry

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