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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — to cut
  4. date — the fruit
  5. chest — of your body
  6. clip — a video
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. clip — for paper
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chest — a box
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. can — to be able to
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cell — in biology
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. face — to confront
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. can — a tin
  20. face — to point toward
  21. can — a tin
  22. cell — a phone
  23. face — part of the head
  24. stem — of a plant

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