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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 120 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: bay · clip · present · straw · land · tube · pitch · stem

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — there
  3. clip — a video
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. tube — a container
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. stem — to come from
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. present — the time now
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. tube — the underground
  18. land — to come down
  19. clip — to cut
  20. land — ground
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. clip — for paper
  23. land — a country
  24. pitch — completely

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