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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: object · kick · clip · present · bat · stem

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. clip — for paper
  4. present — there
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bat — the animal
  9. object — to protest
  10. clip — a video
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. present — a gift
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. object — a thing
  16. kick — in football
  17. clip — to cut
  18. object — an aim

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