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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. stem — to come from
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. swing — music
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. hand — help
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. tear — from crying
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. dip — to sink
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. swing — in golf
  16. hand — in cards
  17. swing — to play on
  18. nail — for a hammer

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