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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: racket · stem · ground · clip · chest · bat · season · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. season — in sport
  4. stem — to come from
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ground — the earth
  9. season — of the year
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ground — a position
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cap — a lid
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cap — of ice
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. clip — a video

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