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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. tear — to rip
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. branch — a division
  14. track — a path
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tear — from crying
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. track — a song
  22. track — to keep track
  23. stem — to come from
  24. perch — the fish

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