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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: bay · spring · squash · clip · chair · rest · stem · last

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spring — a coil
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. chair — a leader
  9. rest — a break
  10. stem — to come from
  11. last — to go on
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. spring — of water
  15. rest — what's left
  16. clip — to cut
  17. rest — what's left
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. clip — a video
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. spring — the season

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