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

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. last — final
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. kid — to tease
  10. tear — to rip
  11. shower — to wash
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. last — to go on
  15. row — to paddle
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — finally
  19. stem — to come from
  20. row — a line
  21. bass — low music
  22. bass — the fish
  23. staff — employees
  24. kid — child

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