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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. spring — the season
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. rest — a break
  8. kid — to tease
  9. spring — a coil
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. stem — to come from
  12. club — for dancing
  13. rest — what's left
  14. kid — child
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — of water
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. club — for golf
  19. rash — a series
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. club — a group
  24. rash — hasty

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