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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. kick — in football
  3. clip — for paper
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. band — a ring
  7. file — a document
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. file — a tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. board — to get on
  16. band — a music group
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. board — a committee
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. saw — the tool
  24. file — a line of people

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