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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: present · bat · shower · chair · clip · wake · stem · fine

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. fine — high quality
  3. shower — rain
  4. clip — a video
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. wake — a trail
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. shower — to wash
  11. chair — a leader
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. present — a gift
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. present — there
  21. present — the time now
  22. fine — all right
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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