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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 · cabinet · wind · chest · lean · band · clip · bay

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  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. stem — to come from
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. lean — thin
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. band — a ring
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a music group
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. clip — for paper
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. lean — to bend
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. chest — a box
  23. lean — to rest against
  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