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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mark — a grade
  5. stem — to come from
  6. march — the month
  7. mark — a trace
  8. clip — a video
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. sharp — clever
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. march — music
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. march — the month
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. perch — the fish
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bark — to shout

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