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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. lean — to bend
  7. stem — to come from
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mine — for digging
  11. chip — for betting
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. clip — a video
  15. chip — to eat
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. lean — thin
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. clip — to cut
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wax — to grow
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. chip — in a computer

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