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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 116 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 · perch · field · last · kick · drill · clip · cell

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. last — finally
  3. cell — in biology
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. last — final
  7. drill — army training
  8. cell — a phone
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. drill — the tool
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. last — to go on
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — farmland
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. stem — to come from
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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