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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: pit · wound · fall · sharp · temple · bat · clip · stem

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. clip — a video
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pit — in a race
  7. clip — for paper
  8. sharp — clever
  9. stem — to come from
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bat — the animal
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. fall — the season
  19. wound — an injury
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. temple — a place of worship

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