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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: mark · bay · clip · spring · land · mine · spell · stem

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. land — a country
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. spell — letters
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. land — to come down
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. spring — of water
  17. spell — magic
  18. clip — a video
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stem — to come from
  22. mark — a trace
  23. clip — to cut
  24. spell — a short time

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