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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. last — final
  5. clip — to cut
  6. object — an aim
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cap — of ice
  9. field — farmland
  10. fall — the season
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cap — a hat
  14. field — for sport
  15. object — a thing
  16. branch — a division
  17. fall — to drop
  18. field — a subject
  19. cap — a lid
  20. object — to protest
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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