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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: stem · toast · clip · wind · date · lash · march · file

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. clip — to cut
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. date — the fruit
  5. toast — bread
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. file — a tool
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. march — the month
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. march — the month
  15. file — a line of people
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. clip — a video
  18. stem — to come from
  19. clip — for paper
  20. file — a document
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. march — music
  24. wind — moving air

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