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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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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: rock · bowl · stem · clip · prune · game · straw · mate

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. clip — a video
  3. mate — a friend
  4. game — wild animals
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. rock — a stone
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. stem — to come from
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mate — a partner
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. game — a match
  21. rock — music
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. prune — to trim

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