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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. hand — help
  7. clip — to cut
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. file — a tool
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. file — a document
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. stem — to come from
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. file — a line of people
  23. date — the fruit
  24. clip — for paper

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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