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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 116 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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468
Word bank
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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. cell — a phone
  3. land — ground
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. perch — the fish
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. clip — a video
  9. stem — to come from
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chair — a leader
  12. pound — a weight
  13. cell — in biology
  14. clip — to cut
  15. land — to come down
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. land — a country
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pound — for dogs

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