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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: lie · stem · degree · game · clip · rash · present · wind

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. wind — moving air
  3. present — the time now
  4. lie — to recline
  5. rash — hasty
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. present — there
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. clip — for paper
  11. degree — an amount
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rash — a series
  15. clip — a video
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. stem — to come from
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. clip — to cut
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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