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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. clip — a video
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. clip — for paper
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. ground — crushed
  11. stem — to come from
  12. ground — the earth
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. spring — of water
  15. mine — for digging
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. plane — a tool
  18. clip — to cut
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. ground — a position
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. spring — the season
  24. plane — in geometry

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