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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stem — to come from
  4. drill — the tool
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cell — a phone
  7. drill — army training
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cell — in biology
  15. spell — a short time
  16. track — a path
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. spell — letters
  20. track — a song
  21. clip — for paper
  22. branch — a division
  23. track — to keep track
  24. cell — in a prison

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