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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 · pound · clip · lie · cold · fork · bank · mine

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. cold — not warm
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. fork — in a road
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pound — a weight
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bank — for money
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. lie — to recline
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. mine — for digging
  23. clip — a video
  24. fork — a garden tool

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