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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — an illness
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. craft — boats
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. clip — to cut
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. stem — to come from
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mark — a trace
  22. cell — in biology
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — not warm

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