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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 thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. tear — from crying
  5. clip — for paper
  6. tear — to rip
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. key — for a lock
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. key — the most important part
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stem — to come from
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bat — the animal
  23. stand — to bear
  24. key — in music

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