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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. court — for sport
  3. board — a committee
  4. stem — to come from
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. spell — magic
  8. court — of law
  9. spell — letters
  10. board — to get on
  11. stock — goods
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. spell — a short time
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stock — shares
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. court — of a king
  19. present — there
  20. present — the time now
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. clip — a video
  23. present — a gift
  24. straw — dry grass

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