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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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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cap — of ice
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. chair — a leader
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. snap — to click
  15. stem — to come from
  16. game — a match
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. game — wild animals
  21. clip — to cut
  22. tear — from crying
  23. clip — a video
  24. cap — a hat

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