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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: wave · mine · perch · clip · net · lean · stem · kid

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. stem — to come from
  3. lean — to bend
  4. net — for catching
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. clip — a video
  7. lean — thin
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. clip — to cut
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. kid — to tease
  19. net — in sport
  20. perch — the fish
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — for digging
  23. kid — child
  24. stem — a stem cell

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