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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. chip — for betting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. race — the arms race
  6. file — a document
  7. clip — for paper
  8. lie — to recline
  9. chip — to eat
  10. race — a contest
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. clip — to cut
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. file — a tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. stem — to come from
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. race — humankind
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. file — a line of people
  24. lie — an untruth

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