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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 124 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. clip — a video
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pop — soda
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stem — to come from
  15. last — final
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pop — music
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bore — to drill
  22. prune — to trim
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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