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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 116 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: dip · hand · stem · bore · mine · mark · clip · last

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. mark — a trace
  5. hand — help
  6. clip — for paper
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. clip — to cut
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. bore — to drill
  11. last — final
  12. stem — to come from
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. bore — to tire
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. mark — a grade
  17. last — finally
  18. dip — to sink
  19. mine — for digging
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. clip — a video
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. last — to go on

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