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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: safe · sharp · lash · mine · cell · stem · degree · clip

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. clip — to cut
  3. degree — temperature
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. sharp — clever
  11. cell — in biology
  12. degree — an amount
  13. stem — to come from
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cell — a phone
  18. clip — a video
  19. mine — for digging
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. degree — from a university
  24. stem — of a plant

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