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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. kick — in football
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. fine — all right
  7. cell — a phone
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — to cut
  10. drill — the tool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. clip — a video
  15. fine — high quality
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cell — in biology
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. drill — army training

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