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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: stem · pitch · cell · bowl · tube · fork · clip · cold

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. fork — in a road
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. tube — a container
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. clip — a video
  17. pitch — completely
  18. tube — the underground
  19. cell — a phone
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. stem — to come from
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cold — an illness

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