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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — to sink
  7. current — electric
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. current — happening now
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bear — the animal
  14. ball — a great time
  15. clip — a video
  16. bat — the animal
  17. current — of water
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. clip — for paper
  20. ball — a dance
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. stem — to come from

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