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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. object — to protest
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mate — to breed
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. clip — a video
  9. mate — a partner
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. object — a thing
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. clip — for paper
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. stem — to come from
  19. object — an aim
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — a position
  23. mate — a friend
  24. clip — to cut

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