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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cap · face · last · wound · bulb · cell · spring · clip

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. face — part of the head
  3. cell — a phone
  4. clip — a video
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cap — a lid
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wound — an injury
  12. spring — the season
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. face — to point toward
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cap — of ice
  20. last — finally
  21. clip — to cut
  22. face — to confront
  23. spring — of water
  24. wound — an injury

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