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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — to come from
  6. present — there
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. suit — clothes
  13. present — a gift
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. clip — for paper
  17. content — the amount
  18. cold — an illness
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. suit — in cards
  21. present — the time now
  22. hand — help
  23. content — happy
  24. suit — to fit

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