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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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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: mate · court · stem · kick · hand · field · bound · clip

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. clip — a video
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. bound — certain
  5. clip — for paper
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bound — tied together
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — help
  10. mate — a partner
  11. field — for sport
  12. court — of law
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. stem — to come from
  17. clip — to cut
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kick — in football
  20. court — of a king
  21. bound — obliged
  22. court — for sport
  23. mate — a friend
  24. field — farmland

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