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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: cue · stem · mate · wind · sharp · bowl · clip · rock

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. rock — music
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cue — for pool
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mate — to breed
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. mate — a friend
  18. cue — a signal
  19. stem — to come from
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. rock — a stone
  23. mate — a partner
  24. cue — a hint

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