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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. row — a line
  5. swing — in golf
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. swing — to play on
  8. clip — for paper
  9. craft — a skill
  10. clip — a video
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. row — to paddle
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. craft — boats
  15. stem — to come from
  16. season — in sport
  17. clip — to cut
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. swing — music
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wake — a trail

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