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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. deal — to handle
  10. club — for dancing
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stem — to come from
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. tear — to rip
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — of a plant

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