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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: court · stem · rock · clip · wave · wake · kid · ground

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. stem — to come from
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — child
  8. rock — a stone
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. court — of a king
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. court — for sport
  16. ground — crushed
  17. court — of law
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. clip — to cut
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. stem — a stem cell

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