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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: straw · stem · jam · clip · date · bulb · wind · pop

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. stem — to come from
  3. wind — moving air
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bulb — for light
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. clip — to cut
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pop — soda
  12. clip — for paper
  13. date — the fruit
  14. wind — moving air
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. clip — a video
  17. pop — music
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. pop — to visit
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bulb — of a plant

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