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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. staff — a stick
  3. track — a song
  4. clip — to cut
  5. staff — employees
  6. charge — electricity
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. track — a path
  11. dip — to sink
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. staff — employees
  14. clip — for paper
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. track — to keep track
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. clip — a video
  20. charge — in control
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. charge — a price
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. mine — for digging

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