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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — an aim
  3. clip — a video
  4. pop — soda
  5. fall — to drop
  6. snap — to click
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. fall — to drop
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. object — a thing
  13. fall — the season
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. capital — money
  16. clip — for paper
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — to come from
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — to visit
  23. clip — to cut
  24. leaves — of a tree

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