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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: chair · saw · season · scale · stem · mouse · shower · clip

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. shower — rain
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. scale — in music
  6. season — in sport
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. season — of the year
  11. saw — the tool
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. chair — a leader
  16. shower — to wash
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. clip — for paper
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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