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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. degree — from a university
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. stem — to come from
  5. degree — temperature
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. season — in sport
  12. craft — boats
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. season — of the year
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. craft — a skill
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. clip — for paper
  24. game — a kind of play

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