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

Word bank: stem · wind · pit · clip · press · kid

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. kid — child
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stem — to come from
  5. pit — in a race
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. clip — a video
  8. press — newspapers
  9. pit — a hole
  10. press — to push
  11. press — a publisher
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. kid — to tease
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pit — a fruit stone

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