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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. band — a ring
  3. squash — the sport
  4. file — a line of people
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. tear — to rip
  9. squash — to crush
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. file — a document
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. tear — from crying
  15. file — a tool
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. tear — from crying
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. shower — rain
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. shower — to wash
  24. band — a music group

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