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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. present — there
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — for paper
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. mark — a trace
  9. present — a gift
  10. stem — to come from
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. degree — from a university
  15. squash — to crush
  16. present — the time now
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. degree — temperature
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. mark — a grade
  21. fork — in a road
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. coach — a trainer

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