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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: kick · file · clip · wax · cap · stem · shower · mate

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mate — to breed
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. mate — a partner
  8. wax — to grow
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mate — a friend
  12. cap — a hat
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. file — a tool
  16. cap — of ice
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. kick — in football
  21. clip — a video
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. file — a document
  24. clip — for paper

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