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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 124 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. stem — to come from
  4. season — in sport
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. clip — to cut
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. clip — a video
  10. can — to be able to
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. can — a tin
  16. season — of the year
  17. snap — to click
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wake — a trail
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. stem — a stem cell

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