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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 116 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. wind — moving air
  5. face — to point toward
  6. wind — moving air
  7. clip — a video
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spring — a coil
  14. face — part of the head
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — the season
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. staff — employees
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wake — a trail
  23. clip — for paper
  24. face — to confront

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