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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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. track — a song
  3. lean — thin
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. lean — to bend
  9. ground — a position
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. capital — money
  12. track — to keep track
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. clip — a video
  15. ground — crushed
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. mate — a friend
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mate — a partner
  21. track — a path
  22. stem — to come from
  23. ground — the earth
  24. stem — a stem cell

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