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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. squash — to crush
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — part of the head
  13. squash — the sport
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. clip — to cut
  19. face — to point toward
  20. plane — a tool
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. clip — for paper
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. clip — a video

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