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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. clip — to cut
  3. swing — music
  4. land — a country
  5. bulb — for light
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. clip — a video
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. clip — for paper
  11. land — ground
  12. rash — hasty
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. capital — a city
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. capital — money
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. swing — to play on
  23. rash — a series
  24. swing — in golf

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