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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. rush — hurry
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. clip — a video
  6. drill — the tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. drill — a practice
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. chest — a box
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. lean — thin
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chest — of your body
  17. clip — for paper
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. drill — army training
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. lean — to bend

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