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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: wind · clip · racket · stem · bat · scale · swing · field

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. stem — to come from
  3. swing — music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. scale — in music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. field — farmland
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bat — the animal
  16. field — for sport
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — a video
  19. wind — moving air
  20. field — a subject
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wind — moving air
  24. swing — in golf

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