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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. stem — to come from
  5. ground — a position
  6. clip — a video
  7. field — a subject
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. deal — to handle
  13. ground — crushed
  14. field — for sport
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. field — farmland
  21. ground — the earth
  22. mine — for digging
  23. content — happy
  24. stem — a stem cell

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