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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. hand — help
  3. fork — in a road
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — a video
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fall — to drop
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fall — the season
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. chest — a box
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. hand — in cards
  21. clip — for paper
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. stem — to come from

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