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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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. rash — a series
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. stem — to come from
  4. march — the month
  5. ball — a dance
  6. clip — a video
  7. lean — to bend
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. rash — hasty
  12. march — music
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. clip — to cut
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. march — the month
  17. lean — thin
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. clip — for paper
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. ball — a great time
  22. snap — to click
  23. rash — on the skin
  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