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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. tear — to rip
  4. clip — a video
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. fork — in a road
  8. drill — the tool
  9. stem — to come from
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. drill — a practice
  14. tear — from crying
  15. drill — army training
  16. clip — for paper
  17. chair — a leader
  18. clip — to cut
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chair — to sit on

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