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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: court · stem · sharp · clip · cell · track · bass · net

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. net — in sport
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bass — the fish
  5. clip — for paper
  6. track — a path
  7. cell — in biology
  8. net — after costs
  9. court — of a king
  10. clip — a video
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. court — for sport
  13. stem — to come from
  14. clip — to cut
  15. sharp — clever
  16. net — for catching
  17. track — a song
  18. track — to keep track
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — low music
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — a phone
  23. court — of law
  24. stem — a stem cell

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