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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. stem — to come from
  2. clip — for paper
  3. rash — hasty
  4. mark — a trace
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. swing — in golf
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. mark — a grade
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. swing — to play on
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bat — the animal
  20. degree — temperature
  21. swing — music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rash — a series
  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