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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: bear · clip · file · saw · stem · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bear — the animal
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. file — a tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. mine — for digging
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stem — to come from
  12. file — a document
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bear — the animal

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