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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: clip · current · bear · last · club · cap · straw · stem

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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. last — final
  4. current — happening now
  5. clip — a video
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. last — finally
  8. cap — a lid
  9. club — for golf
  10. cap — a hat
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. clip — to cut
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. current — electric
  15. last — to go on
  16. bear — the animal
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bear — the animal
  19. current — of water
  20. cap — of ice
  21. clip — for paper
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. club — for dancing
  24. club — a group

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