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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. game — wild animals
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cold — an illness
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. court — for sport
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — a series
  13. game — a match
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. court — of law
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. rash — hasty
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. stem — to come from
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. game — a kind of play

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