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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. stem — to come from
  3. lie — to recline
  4. sharp — clever
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bat — the animal
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wake — a trail
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. clip — a video

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