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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. season — in sport
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. race — humankind
  5. season — of the year
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. court — for sport
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. race — a contest
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. kick — in football
  12. court — of a king
  13. clip — for paper
  14. branch — a division
  15. stem — to come from
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. clip — a video
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. clip — to cut
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. court — of law

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