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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: clip · land · tear · cell · rash · hide · stand · stem

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. stand — to bear
  3. cell — a phone
  4. rash — hasty
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. rash — a series
  11. stem — to come from
  12. land — to come down
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. clip — for paper
  17. tear — to rip
  18. land — a country
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cell — in biology
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. land — ground
  24. stand — on your feet

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