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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. track — a song
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. track — a path
  6. swing — to play on
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cap — a lid
  9. swing — music
  10. track — to keep track
  11. stem — to come from
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. swing — in golf
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. cap — a hat
  21. mine — for digging
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cap — of ice
  24. hide — to keep secret

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