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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — a partner
  4. clip — a video
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. spring — of water
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — to push
  10. stock — shares
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. spring — the season
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stem — to come from
  19. press — newspapers
  20. mate — to breed
  21. cell — in biology
  22. stock — goods
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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