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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. row — a line
  4. wake — a trail
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. stem — to come from
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. row — to paddle
  9. root — of a word
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. degree — temperature
  12. tear — from crying
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. root — the cause
  22. tear — to rip
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. root — 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